Mechanic Chris Cureton has loud radio charges dropped

by Pierce King. Published Tue 09 Mar 2010 10:58, Last updated: 2010-03-09

A mechanic who was fined £30 for playing his car radio 'excessively loud,' has had the charges against him dropped.

Father-of-one Christopher Cureton, was playing rock band The Killers' hit, Human, as he drove his Vauxhall Astra along Brighton Street, Wallasey, after an eight hour shift,

The outraged family man appealed the fine, insisting he was listening to the music at an acceptable level and he was not 'a boy-racer with a pimped-out' car stereo.

He denied the offence of 'driving a vehicle with excessive noise emanating from it' under Section 42 of the Public Order Act.

Christopher, 41, was stopped last summer and given a fixed penalty notice, for producing 'excessive noise, which could have been avoided by the exercise of reasonable care'.

The music fan said: "I am relieved that common sense has prevailed. I was prepared to take the fine all the way to court, because I had done nothing wrong.

"There was no justification in taking this action against me, the police were over-zealous.

"They have a tough job to do, but they should be chasing real criminals instead of issuing fines for non-existent crimes to innocent people."

Mr Cureton's lawyer, David Kirwan, accused the officer who charged his client of acting like a 'real-life Robocop'.

Mr Kirwan, Senior Partner of Kirwans Solicitors, said: "This was a ridiculous situation from start to finish.

"My client was completely innocent of any crime and was merely going about his business, enjoying some music in his car after a hard days work.

"The police officer who charged him acted like a real-life Robocop.

"In his haste to pin something on him, my client was charged under an act that bore no relation to the crime levied at him."

Mr. Cureton added: "I will donate the £30 fine to Claire House Hospice as this was never about money. It felt like this police officer was making up a new law on the spot to charge me with.

"At last I feel exonerated, now I want to put the whole episode behind me."

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