SPEEDING charges against a motorist in Wirral failed after the court was told the handheld “speed gun” used to catch him had not been properly checked.

Solicitors for senior British Telecom director Colin Mattey now say hundreds of other motorists could have grounds for appealing their convictions.

Mr Mattey was accused of driving at 46mph in a 30mph zone in Birkenhead on May 25, 2007.

He contacted Jeanette Miller, senior partner at motor defence specialists Geoffrey Miller Solicitors to represent him, adamant he hadn’t broken the speed limit.

Mr Mattey insisted the speed alleged by the officer in the case was simply wrong.

The case concluded at Wirral Magistrates’ Court on September 24 where district judge Sanders ruled the Unipar SL700 used to measure Mr Mattey’s alleged speed was not Home Office Type Approved, and therefore there was insufficient evidence of speeding to convict him.

Mr Mattey’s innocence was upheld, and he was acquitted due to the huge hole in the technical evidence of the case.

There are more than 40 Type Approved devices used to measure speed on the UK’s roads by the police.

Type approval means the Home Office has approved the use of the device for the purpose of speed detection and evidence in any subsequent prosecution, and involves a rigorous testing process.

Calibration of speed is a specific requirement, and the annual calibration is one of the main conditions of Type Approval for a device. In this case, it was found there was no evidence of speed calibration.