NSW when is it harrasment

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super looper

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25 March 2019
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I appreciate that police and RBT units are an effective tool used by police to prevent accidents and save lives.
I live in a small town with around 1000 residents near the beach. There are 2 ways into my town and of course 2 ways out.
The police quiet frequently use the main road as an RBT stop at least 2 times a month and sometimes 2 x a week.
At first I thought it was a good thing that this was happening and looked after my local area keeping drunk drivers off the road and helping keep my area safe.
HOWEVER. I started being pulled over continuously on my way home from work , This year alone I have been pulled over and random breath tested at least 5 times already.
It started getting annoying after i had lost a P plate on my way to work and on the way home was fined a large amount of money and lost demerit points. I was pulled over again 2 weeks later in the same place where i was then fined $448 and will lose 3 demerit points minimum for obscure number plate with P plate for my P plate slightly covering the last letter on my number plate after it was tied on to try and stop it from coming off and being fines and possibly losing my license. 8 days later I was pulled over again and could not find my license at 1st and was threatened with more fines but then found my license down beside my seat.
I wish to take my case to court to ask for leniency and a chance to keep my license.
What I would like to know is can I get all the information from police on their stops in this location.
EG;
How many times this year and last year have the police set up RBT in this location
How many actual drink drivers are actually caught here to prove why it is needed so often
How many OTHER fines are given out in this location

I would also like to know if this becomes harassment after being continuously pulled over at the end of my street simply trying to travel home from work in normal daylight hours.
I have never seen the police in the position at night time or early hours of the morning when a large percentage of drink drivers are usually on the roads.
These set ups are usually around midday to 2pm

Im starting to feel harassed by our local police in my small home town.

So my main Q's are.
1 Can I get the information I seek from police or any other place. ?
2 Can this be deemed harassment ?
 

Tim W

Lawyer
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28 April 2014
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Let's just be clear about something... getting RBT-ed 5 times in three months
on a road you travel often, into a small community, and which may be a frequent-offender environment, might be frequent, but it is not is not "continuously".

Operational policing material is not generally available under GIPA
(you may know GIPA via it's old name - FOI - Freedom of Information).
So, you'd need to apply for an Order that the police provide the material
for the specific purpose of assisting you in preparing your defence.
There's no guarantee that you'd get such an order.

In any event, you basically have no defence against the offences for which you have been infringed.
Which does not leave you without options,
but are you even still within time to court-elect the infringements?
 
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Rob Legat - SBPL

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Also bear in mind that there is almost certainly no chance that they are targeting you. If you are to be in any way successful in proving harassment, you'll need to differentiate between the police simply doing their job and 'something more than that'. The reason for this is that if they are simply doing their job (i.e. the offences they found were valid) then it most assuredly is not harassment.

Looked at from another perspective, which could very well happen if you put yourself before a magistrate: why did you persist in driving a 'defective' car through a known RBT hotspot if you have any sort of expectation this would end differently?
 
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Tim W

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Looked at from another perspective, which could very well happen if you put yourself before a magistrate: why did you persist in driving a 'defective' car through a known RBT hotspot if you have any sort of expectation this would end differently?
Agreed.
Apart from anything else, the onus is on a driver to always comply with all the conditions of their licence...
such as correctly displaying a P-plate.
 

super looper

Member
25 March 2019
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but are you even still within time to court-elect the infringements?
Yes I have applied for leniency 1st via online and awaiting a reply. it said last i checked wait for up to 42 days.
 

super looper

Member
25 March 2019
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Looked at from another perspective, which could very well happen if you put yourself before a magistrate: why did you persist in driving a 'defective' car through a known RBT hotspot if you have any sort of expectation this would end differently?

It wasnt noticed that the letter was slightly covered. Hence we never thought there was a defect.
I respect that I have made a mistake.
But it is a small one and 448 and 3 points is over the top.
I;m happy to pay the fine to acknowledge I have made a mistake .
The number plate was not covered to hide anything else like someone might to hide that the car is not registered or to commit a crime maybe. and being in my work clothes and my address on my license showing i live just a couple of hundred meters down the road it is easy to see that there was no malice intended.
I own a small cafe and work usually 7 days per week. I employ 7 staff members including my brother who I also drive to work 4 days per week.
Sir I ask for the court to take the god damn revenue and gimme my damn license back ! Ok would not finish like that.. but how would my argument stand in court ?
 

Rob Legat - SBPL

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I'm not familiar with NSW court/licence procedures, but based on my somewhat dated experience in the Queensland jurisdiction (i.e. I did these a long time ago in a different state, so this may not be relevant anymore). However, I can't immediately see that there is a mechanism for a good behaviour licence for P platers in NSW. And it's not the court's function to deal with licence suspension on demerit points.

I think you'd be restricted to arguing the offence itself before the court to try to get it knocked out. That's always a bit of a gamble, as your fine can be increased if you are not successful and costs may be added.

However, if there is no capacity for you to seek a licence in the face of a demerits suspension that may be all you can do. Bear in mind that failing to notice part of your licence plate was covered isn't liable to be put down as a 'mistake' - there's a positive obligation to ensure your licence plate is visible. You might have to hope the court is in a good mood that day...
 
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