Crime fighting boss has confidence in police 'knocked' after son's experience

THE head of an organisation that works closely with police to combat crime has said his confidence in the force has been dented after an incident involving his son.

Jim Ferguson is the Scottish chairman of Crimestoppers – which enables members of the public to share information about crimes anonymously – as well as managing director of Inverness-based Castle Security and describes himself as "pro police".

However he said "lessons must be learned" after his son James was charged with driving without insurance, only for the case to be dropped on the day he was due to stand trial.

Mr Ferguson and James (22) spoke out after the case was dropped at the Justice of the Peace Court in Inverness when the fiscal was presented with valid insurance documents by the defence.

James Ferguson’s ordeal began in the early hours of a morning last December.

A team leader with Castle Security, he was heading home to Croy after working in Nairn and was set to drop off keys at the firm’s Dalcross office on his way.

Just after leaving Nairn, however, he was pulled over by two police officers.

While Castle Security has its own branded vehicles he was driving an ordinary car at the time.

Describing the behaviour of the officers he said: "One was OK, but the other was quite aggressive.

"He asked where I was going and I told him about having to drop the keys in before I headed home. He said they were going to run checks and the next thing I knew I was being told they were going to charge me for not having insurance."

Insisting he was insured, but unable to prove it immediately, James faced a £300 fine plus six penalty points.

The family was also charged £150 to recover the vehicle after it was impounded.

Even taking their insurance documents into the police station the following day – and receiving assurances from their insurance company that James was properly covered – failed to persuade officers to drop the charge.

"They were just adamant," said Mr Ferguson. "I think the issue was that the policy covered James for ‘travelling to and from work’. Maybe they were applying a strict interpretation to the fact that Nairn was not technically his ‘place of work’ – even though he had been working there that night.

"To be honest we never got a straight answer to what their issue was and the charge James was facing was simply ‘driving without insurance’ which we were able to prove very easily wasn’t the case.

"I am very pro-police and I really believe the vast majority of officers here are incredibly professional, hard working and effective, something that is reflected in all their stats. It has knocked my confidence a bit though. There was clearly a mistake in this case and I think they have to reflect on that."

The family have now changed their insurance policy to specifically permit driving ‘for occasional business use’ and Mr Ferguson advised others to do the same.

He now wants to talk to officers about the incident – and wants the £150 impound fee refunded.

James Ferguson said: "I was brought up to respect the police but I do feel let down by this incident. I just hope it was a one-off for me and for any other drivers out there."

Police Scotland would not discuss the specifics of the incident.

A spokesman simply said: "Police Scotland acknowledges the outcome of this case."

A spokesman for the Crown Office said: "The procurator fiscal has a duty to keep cases under review and after careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case decided there should no further proceedings."