'Drunk officer' claim doesn't help speedster

ARGUED: A man caught speeding claimed the police officer was drunk at the time.

A court was unimpressed with a driver's claim that the police officer who stopped him for speeding had been drunk.

Christopher McCallum, a building contractor from Wellington, also claimed he was stopped in Greytown, not Carterton.

But the Justices of the Peace hearing the case said they believed the integrity of the officer who gave evidence.

The officer was also cleared following a Police Complaints Authority investigation on the issue.

McCallum, 69, was in the Masterton District Court on Monday before Justices of the Peace Peter Debney and Don Adams, defending a charge of exceeding the 50km/h speed limit. He represented himself.

He had been stopped by Senior Constable Geoff Duffy at the southern end of Carterton on June 23 just before 4pm after being clocked at 69km/h in a 50km/h area.

McCallum claimed the officer first told him he had been doing 64km/h, issuing an infringement for 69km/h, which cost $120.

The officer, with 42 years' experience, mainly as a highway patrol officer, gave evidence he was using a certified stalker microwave radar and clocked McCallum speeding. When turning to pursue him, he noticed McCallum had a cellphone in his hand.

Mr Duffy said he accepted McCallum's claims he was putting the phone on a hands-free device but issued him with a ticket for speeding.

In evidence, McCallum said he was "very familiar" with the area as it was his regular patch and the smart device used by police showed his location was at the south end of Carterton.

When questioned by McCallum about whether the speed was his or belonged to another driver he had previous dealt with, Mr Duffy confirmed it was McCallum's speed.

"The last client was 124km/h, between Carterton and Greytown," the officer said.

McCallum said it came down to the officer's "words or mine".

When McCallum took the witness stand, he said he had been keeping an eye on his speed on his GPS and that he had been stopped by Mr Duffy south of Greytown, not Carterton.

He said he had complained to the Independent Police Conduct Authority about Mr Duffy smelling of alcohol and hitting his head on the door as he got back in his car, "skinning his head".

"He came closer, I smelled a strong whiff of alcohol."

In his defence, McCallum also claimed the officer had given conflicting evidence.

Mr Adams said that it was a "subjective view" from McCallum.

In cross-examining McCallum, police prosecutor Sergeant Nick Beryman asked why it took him so long to make a complaint about the officer being intoxicated.

In reply, he said he had attended four funerals and was busy with work.

McCallum submitted he was an "honest, law-abiding citizen with integrity".

"There is no proof I had admitted to the speeding charge ... I asked him to prove that it was my vehicle that he caught at that speed. I totally believe it was somebody else's speed."

On hearing the evidence, Mr Debney and Mr Adams said they believed the evidence and integrity of the officer. They found McCallum guilty, ordering him to pay the infringement fee of $120 as well as $130 court costs.