MARGATE motorcyclist Dirk Putter (36) who was found guilty of travelling at 190km/h on the N2 freeway at Ifafa last year has won his appeal and had his conviction and sentence set aside.
Mr Putter was convicted by the Scottburgh Magistrate’s Court of exceeding the speed limit in August 2013 and sentenced to a R12 000 fine or 12 months’ imprisonment.
However, the conviction was overturned on appeal by Pietermaritzburg High Court judges Johan Ploos van Amstel and Philip Nkosi on Tuesday this week, on the grounds that Scottburgh magistrate CJ Schoeman had erred by not acquitting Mr Putter at the close of the state’s case.
According to the Mercury the state failed to call an expert witness to prove whether the traffic officers had operated the speed-monitoring device correctly, or to prove whether the apparatus used to determine the speed was capable of measuring it accurately.
Having failed to call an expert to testify, the judges found the state had not proved its case against Mr Putter beyond reasonable doubt.
Mr Putter’s defence advocate, Deon Schaup, argued that the state had also failed to prove that the officer who had operated the speed measuring device was properly qualified to do so.
