LEGAL MATTERS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: october 2011 :: RMTnews 16 A member who was found not guilty of dangerous driving has hit out at the way local papers reported his trial. Peter Huggett, a National Express coach driver, was found not guilty by a unanimous verdict at Southampton Crown Court. He was charged with driving without due care and attention, a charge that was later changed to dangerous driving, after falling asleep while driving a London to Poole coach on the M27 in August 2009. There was no accident although the coach did stray off the motorway. RMT lawyers Thompsons produced evidence that Peter had a mild form of sleep apnoea which he did not and would not have known about. This was enough for the jury to find him not guilty. But the Southampton Daily Echo and the Bournemouth Evening Echo, both of which ran a series of high profile reports about the trial including on their front pages, buried the news of the verdict deep inside their papers. They reported at length comments made by passengers on the coach and described them as having been terrified and that there was screaming. Yet they failed to report the reason he fell asleep and gave just one paragraph to his acquittal. Peter, who opted for a Crown Court trial and refused to agree to a plea bargain because he knew he was not guilty, said: “I am furious that the papers reported details of the prosecution case against me, day after day, but barely bothered with my defence and appeared to hide the not guilty verdict on page 27. “I’m just an ordinary working man, I can’t afford super- injunctions and the like. “It’s downright shoddy journalism not to give the outcome of the trial the same prominence as the trial itself. If anyone does a search for my name on the internet they get all the coverage of the charges against me and nothing at all about the outcome as the papers haven’t even bothered to put the report of it on their websites,” Peter said. Peter’s RMT rep, Mark Dean, said a complaint to the Press Complaints Commission had been submitted. “I’m disgusted with the papers for how they have treated Peter. At a time when discussions with his employer are taking place, it’s not helpful to give such one-sided accounts of the incident and of his prosecution.” Mark praised Thompsons for its determination to clear Peter’s name. “Thompsons worked really hard to get the key evidence that would ensure a not guilty verdict. It demonstrates the importance of the RMT’s legal service and why members need expert lawyers. I can’t imagine a high-street firm with little experience of representing members accused of work- related crimes bothering to get expert medical reports in a case like this.” A submission to the Director of Public Prosecutions, on the basis that Peter should not have had to stand trial, is now being considered. Clayton Williams of Thompsons, who represented the member, said: “Mr Huggett’s case should have been reviewed, by the CPS, once medical evidence came to light that he suffered with undiagnosed sleep apnoea. “He was put through the ordeal of a trial for an incident that was clearly not his fault. I know he is extremely relieved that the case is behind him and very grateful to RMT for supporting him throughout,” he said. IN BRIEF • A member was injured while working on extending the platforms at a Tube station. A hose used for pouring concrete from street level was unsecured when the mix came down, striking the member and causing facial injuries. The other side’s insurers refused to negotiate a settlement and the union began legal proceedings resulting in the member being awarded £2,048. • A member won nearly £64,000 following an injury sustained when loading heavy rail track from a lorry. Lengths of rail had been dumped haphazardly in a car park. Trackmen had complained to management that track should be stacked in safe manner, to no avail. Whilst loading track a number of lengths gave way trapping the member’s foot, causing multiple fractures. • A bus driver member won over £2,200 in compensation and his employer received over £1,100 in respect of sick pay after he was injured when his bus went down a larger pot hole which aggravated a previous whiplash injury. LEGAL VICTORIES SMEARED BY THE MEDIA