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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Property destruction (Incld. malicious destruction.) |
Sentence: |
"£970 fine, compensation & costs" |
Years Imprisoned: |
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Year Crime: |
2015 |
Year Convicted: |
2016 |
Year Cleared: |
2016 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
United Kingdom |
County or Region of Crime: |
England |
City of Crime: |
Taunton |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Stephen German aka Steve German, was wrongly convicted on February 18, 2016 of causing criminal damage in Taunton, England in March 2015. German's prosecution was based on his alleged scratching of a BMW owned by Paul Lanning during an alleged "road rage" incident. A news story about the case stated: "Mr Lanning says the confrontation started after German accused him of braking late as he walked across the pedestrian crossing between Morrisons store and the petrol station off Priory Bridge Road. "He shouted at me and gestured at my eye and then scratched a key or something on the bonnet of my car and down the side," said Mr Lanning, who has since sold the BMW he was driving at the time. "I jumped out of the car and confronted him on the forecourt of the garage, when he said he wasn't going to wait for the police. I followed him around for 40 minutes giving a running commentary on my phone to police of where we were until he was apprehended. He tried to shake me off around the station and Staplegrove Road. I subsequently found out he was standing for Parliament and had been out canvassing." German was convicted after a bench trial, and sentenced to pay a total of £970: a £180 fine; £480 compensation to Lanning; and £310 in costs. German appealed. On August 23, 2016 Taunton Crown Court Judge James Patrick quashed German's conviction after viewing a CCTV recording of the incident that showed Lanning braked sharply and his car stopped near German inside the cross walk." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On August 23, 2016 Taunton Crown Court Judge James Patrick quashed German's conviction after view a CCTV recording of the incident that showed Lanning braked sharply and his car stopped near German inside the cross walk." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"TUSC Taunton Deane General Election candidate Steve German guilty of criminal damage, By Staff, This is the West County, February 24, 2016" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.thisisthewestcountry.co.uk/news/14296442.PHOTOS__Road_rage_General_Election_candidate_in_Taunton_Deane_faces___1_000_bill_after_guilty_verdict/ |
Information Source 2: |
"Taunton Deane General Election candidate Steve German's conviction for criminal damage overturned, By Staff Writer, Somerset County Gazette, August 23, 2016" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/14699805.Judge_quashes_General_Election_candidate_s_conviction_for_criminal_damage/ |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org