Motorway driver feared that pursuing police officer was a ‘nutcase’

A Jaguar driver who was holding up traffic in the outside lane of the M5 told Bath magistrates he did not realise that the “aggressive” motorist trying to get him to move over was in fact a police officer.

The special sergeant, who was travelling in his own car, told the court that he had shown his warrant card as he drew alongside Robert Baylis, who was at the wheel of the black X-Type.

Concerned that the speed at which Baylis was travelling – which he estimated to be 60 to 65mph – could cause road rage from drivers stuck behind, the officer told the court he’d called for a marked unit to be dispatched, in the meantime continuing to observe Baylis as he drove southwards.

But Baylis, who was in court charged with not being considerate to other road users, said he had been travelling at about 72 to 73mph and had not been able to pull over for some time without the risk of cutting up other drivers, although he admitted he had not signalled to show his intention to leave lane three.

The 74-year-old, from Wokingham in Berkshire, defended himself when he came before the court on Wednesday, 30th July in relation to the incident on 20th March last year.

The police officer told the court that he had been in uniform at the time, but Baylis accused him of “lying through your teeth”.

Baylis said his wife, who’d been in the passenger seat at the time, had seen the man holding something up, but she “would not know a library card from a warrant card”.

He said he was eventually followed off the M5 and along the A38 in Somerset by the unmarked car. “I thought we were being followed by a nutcase,” he told the court.

Baylis said he had done a full 360-degree manoeuvre at a roundabout after coming off at Junction 26 to establish that he was indeed being followed. Fearing he could end up getting “beaten up” at the roadside, he’d asked his wife to call 999 to plan a rendezvous with police.

Baylis admitted he had been “agitated” when stopped by a police car a short time later, but had calmed down when it was confirmed to him that the man following him had in fact been a police officer.

Giving evidence in court, the police constable who had stopped Baylis corroborated that the special sergeant had been in uniform.

The special sergeant admitted in court that he had told Baylis that he would produce dash-cam evidence of what happened; however, it turned out his memory card was full, so no footage was available.

The body-worn footage by the police constable was also not available as it had been wiped after 30 days as the officer had gone on long-term sick leave.

Finding Baylis guilty of not being considerate to other road users, magistrates said they found the special sergeant to be a “credible and clear witness” and believed his account.

They told Baylis that although they did not consider he was lying, he had not really addressed the issue of his driving and had not used lane one over a distance of 27 miles.

Baylis, who told the court he has an annual pre-tax income of £140,000, was fined £1,728 and ordered to pay £650 prosecution costs and a surcharge of £691.

Adding six penalty points to Baylis’s licence, the chair of the bench told him: “You will need to drive carefully.”

After being told he could leave the courtroom, Baylis proclaimed: “That will teach me to argue with the police.”