Horsham sues garage over court stress

Norman Bryant, of Copsale Lane, Horsham, took his vehicle to Kia Motors Gatwick - part of the Gatwick Group - but during the time it was supposed to be there it was clocked doing 81mph on the A23.

The incident took place in April 2010.

Some time after, Mr Bryant was summonsed to court by Sussex Police.

He told the County Times he later suffered from anxiety.

The case was dropped at a magistrates’ court when he pleaded not guilty.

In December he successfully sued the garage and won a total of £762.50 from the Gatwick Group at Horsham County Court.

The group was forced to pay My Bryant before the new year.

Speaking after the result, Mr Bryant said: “It first struck me when I was given a letter saying I had to go to court and I assumed by giving them a letter and proving I’m not in the car, that would be proof enough.

“Most people I have spoken to have had sympathy for me.”

He added while he was happy with the result he would have liked slightly more compensation.

Even though it took My Bryant nearly four years to clear his name, he said he would encourage others to follow the same course of action.

In the past Mr Bryant has written letters to the County Times about speeding-related issues.

Discussing the issue of speeding around the Horsham district, he wrote in February 2013: “Do we need speed restrictions at all, well yes in certain areas we do, our local narrow lanes all have a 60 mph limit yet on the dual carriageway to Dorking they have recently reduced that to 50 mph for what reason I do not know as I consider this too slow for the road.

“We have asked our local parish council about a reduction in our speed limit but unfortunately they are powerless to do anything.

“A 40 mph limit would be great but I would not suggest anything lower than this and as for the 20 mph in certain areas, well sometimes one is lucky to be doing 20 mph in Horsham town so are we rushing into this using a sledge hammer to crack a walnut.”