Police and prosecutors will not be appealing the sentence of a speeding Army captain clocked doing 130mph on the A12, chiefs have revealed.
Despite being caught driving 60mph above the speed limit, Wattisham-based James Golding hasn’t been banned from the road – a fact that has angered readers and campaigners nationwide.
The 26-year-old Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers captain, from Upminster in east London, was clocked driving his Aston Martin at speeds of up to 130mph along a stretch of the A12 at Dedham last July.
He received six points on his licence and a £781 fine last week – a sentence many have criticised for being too lenient.
Now police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have admitted they can’t appeal the decision.
Bosses at road safety charity Brake said such a speed could have had catastrophic consequences, adding that the law should be used to crack down on the “menace” of excessive speeding.
They added: “Breaking the speed limit by even a small amount can have catastrophic consequences.
“Drivers who selfishly ignore speed limits put not only themselves, but other road users, at serious risk.
“There is no justification for travelling at the speeds demonstrated in this case.”
CPS chiefs said sentencing is a matter for the courts only.
They added that the service is unable to appeal sentences for offences not under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme – unless there has been a clear error in law.
Police chiefs said appeals of this kind are only heard for indictable offences, not summary ones such as Golding’s.
South Suffolk MP James Cartlidge said: “I share the shock of many people locally that a member of the public, and a serving Army officer at that, should drive at so reckless a speed through the constituency.
“I have previously commented on the poor quality of junctions at East Bergholt, near where this incident took place, and it is an area of road that requires extra caution, not the complete absence of it.”
While Harwich and North Essex MP Bernard Jenkin added: “The public reaction to this speed is so understandable.
“This should serve as a warning to anybody who thinks that they would also get a lenient sentence.
“Magistrates obviously considered this to be a very exceptional case.”
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