Aristocrat has conviction for crashing BMW quashed as he wasn’t able to attend court – because of motorbike collision with deer
‘The case just gaily pressed on – with only one party present – and I was duly convicted,’ earl of Cardigan says
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The Earl of Cardigan has successfully appealed a conviction for careless driving after he was unable to attend court because he was in a motorcycle accident involving a deer.
David Brudenell-Bruce was due to appear in court this August after he allegedly drove into a nurse’s car, causing £750 worth of damage.
He was taking his wife to hospital at the time of the 20 November collision. The aristocrat is accused of careless driving, driving without insurance and failing to report an accident.
The 66-year-old was due to face trial on 28 August but did not appear in court.
He was convicted in his absence, fined £2,126 and received six penalty points on his licence.
The conviction was later quashed after the 66-year-old proved his failure to appear was because of a second crash, this time involving a deer and a calf.
Mr Brudenell-Bruce drove his motorbike from a pub to his home in Savernake Forest, Wiltshire the night before his 28 August 2019 court appearance.
He lost control of the motorbike when the animals ran across the road and was trapped under the vehicle for several hours.
“I was pinned under the bike. I managed to get my phone and rang 999. I spoke to the ambulance control but I waited and waited and no-one turned up,” he said.
Emergency services staff rescued the Wiltshire resident in the early hours of the following day.
“Then a police car arrived and they managed to lift the bike off of me,” Mr Brundenell-Bruce said.
‘’Eventually an ambulance turned up and they for some reason cut all my clothes off of me and did some tests.”
The 66-year-old was then taken to hospital.
“They then took me to the Great Western Hospital in Swindon... where I was on a trolley for hours and then it was decided they would take me home and I was told to rest for the rest of the day,” he said.
Mr Brudenell-Bruce found out the next day that he had been convicted and successfully appealed.
He has been granted a new trial date on 29 February 2020.
The earl added: “The case just gaily pressed on – with only one party present – and I was duly convicted. I didn’t think that sort of thing happened in the United Kingdom.”
“We can confirm that the magistrates at Salisbury Magistrates’ Court decided on 29 October 2019 that a hearing should be listed to allow David Brudenell-Bruce to represent himself at his trial on 29 February 2020 following evidence provided to them by the defence,” a CPS spokesperson said.
“Mr Brudenell-Bruce’s conviction after trial in his absence on 28 August 2019 was set aside at the court as he provided evidence that he was still in hospital until the afternoon of the date the trial was listed.”
The aristocrat pleaded not guilty to all charges at a hearing at Salisbury Crown Court on 29 October.
Additional reporting by agencies