Rabia Mir represented the defendant on a private instruction at the magistrate’s court. The defendant was charged with using a mobile phone while driving and was filmed by a cyclist on his helmet camera. If convicted, the defendant was facing a lengthy disqualification from driving, as well as a fine of up to £1000 and a criminal conviction. Despite clear video evidence, Rabia was able to persuade the tribunal that the defendants use of their mobile phone was in fact a genuine emergency resulting in the tribunal taking less than 10 minutes to return a verdict of not guilty. 

A note about the law: 

Since March 2022, the law around drivers using a mobile phone has becomes stricter, that and the fact that many cyclists now actively film drivers using their mobile phones on their helmets and submit this online to the police. Like with many driving offences, the law around the use of a mobile phone when driving is clear, you cannot use, and 'use' goes beyond just using it to make a phone call or sending a text message (pre-March 2022) and can include any data being received if the phone is being held. The vehicle does not have to be moving and you can be arrested even where you are stationary, with the most common exception being when going through a drive through, where you can use your phone to make a purchase. The statutory defence is that you had to use your phone due to a genuine emergency, but you can also run defences ranging from duress to the more traditional special reasons defences that are more commonly associated with drink driving offences. Fundamentally, the law deters people from using their mobile phones.

Rabia is an experienced barrister and also accepts instructions on a direct access basis.