I broke speed limit to prove a point, says Tory councillor

Goff Beck received a warning letter from police after breaking the limit and being spotted by Community Speed-Watch volunteers.

The former Royal Marine then announced at a parish council meeting near his home in the New Forest that he was “pleased” he was spotted because it meant he could convince other speeding drivers they would be caught too.

His revelation sent the meeting into stunned silence – until one man called out: “You should have got done.”

Mr Beck, a New Forest district councillor, was backing a presentation urging volunteers to set up a Speed-Watch scheme in New Milton, Hants.

Volunteers use speed indicator devices on blackspot roads and take down the offending driver’s vehicle registration and speed.

Police then send warning letters to those who are caught and repeat offenders will be visited by officers.

Mr Beck was caught by a SpeedWatch team while driving in Wiltshire and proudly announced to the room: “I got a letter within 10 days and it said I was doing 43mph in a 30mph zone.

“I was quite pleased I got that because I can now say, ‘Yes, you will get a letter’ because I got one’.”

The road safety charity Brake said however: “Breaking the speed limit by any amount is a serious offence. Speed limits exist to save lives. Nobody should break speed limits merely to prove a point.

“People who speed are taking huge risks and putting themselves and other road users in grave danger.”

Hampshire police superintendent Lucy Hutson echoed the charity’s warnings, saying: “All drivers have a responsibility to comply with speed limits, which are there to help prevent serious or fatal injuries.”

The SpeedWatch meeting was hosted by parish councillor David Ironside, who was badly injured last year in a crash that cost the life of his father and a woman ambulance driver.