Frederick Forsyth compares Met’s surveillance methods to the Stasi
Author Frederick Forsyth[1] has compared the Metropolitan Police to the Stasi after being taken to court over an administrative error made while paying a speeding ticket fine.
The writer and journalist[2] was caught by a speed camera in October while “in his little runabout pootling along an urban motorway” at seven miles an hour over a 30mph limit.
Mr Forsyth, a former spy, said the East German secret service would have “salivated with envy” at the surveillance powers of police in Britain today.
In a letter to the court, written on a typewriter, the 84-year-old said he pleaded guilty and paid a fine as soon as he was made aware of the offence.
However, Mr Forsyth said that the Met then claimed he had forgotten to include his driving licence number on one of the forms he was required to fill out.
As a result, his payment of the fine was outside of the time limit and he said he was told his case would be dealt with by a magistrate.
He submitted an image of the documents to the court that showed he had filled out the number correctly, the Evening Standard reports.
The author’s typewritten letter was addressed to ‘Mr Stipendiary’
Mr Forsyth has previously revealed that, alongside his writing, he also worked for MI6 for more than 20 years.
In his letter to the court, the best-selling author berated the Met for “hounding an old codger” for driving over the speed limit, rather than solving burglaries,
He wrote: “Fifty years ago, being bilingual in German, I used to slip through the Berlin Wall on errands for the Firm.
“The East German Stasis would salivate with envy if they had the surveillance powers of the Met today.
“So in a capital with 500 unsolved burglaries there are ample time, wherewithal and staff to hound an old codger driving at 7 mph over the limit. As Huxley remarked; Ah brave new world!!”
Mr Forsyth was first recruited by the intelligence services during the Biafran War in Nigeria, where he was working as a journalist.
He said he was approached by an officer who asked him to “tell us what’s going on” during the civil war, which lasted from 1967 to 1970.
Despite becoming an established author with the success of 1971’s The Day of the Jackal – which earned Mr Forsyth a three-book publishing deal and led to a hit film – he later undertook missions to Rhodesia, South Africa and, at the height of the Cold War, East Germany.
Author says he was ‘pootling along’
Describing the incident that eventually led to his case going to court, he said: “Overhead gantry cameras spotted my little runabout pootling along an urban motorway at 37mph unaware speed reduction cameras had changed the rating from 40mph to 30mph. I had simply missed the sign.”
Mr Forsyth was driving his black Suzuki when he was caught on the A40 near Paddington Green on October 31 last year.
Because of the alleged administrative error, Mr Forsyth asked the court to “reimpose the original fine”, which he said he would pay immediately.
He added: “But please with no court costs, because I have not imposed any; the error was the Met’s, not mine.”
He had addressed his note to “Mr Stipendiary” – a historic term for a paid magistrate.
Mr Forsyth was prosecuted behind closed doors through the single justice procedure and sentenced without a court hearing last month.
Magistrate Robin Fawcett imposed a £60 fine, a £24 victim surcharge, and just £16 in costs – bringing the total to £100. Forsyth will also have three penalty points on his licence.
References
- ^ Frederick Forsyth (www.telegraph.co.uk)
- ^ writer and journalist (www.telegraph.co.uk)