Pensioner dragged through courts for doing 35mph in 30 zone as wife was having epileptic fit

Sydney Duffy was caught by a mobile police unit doing 35mph in a 30mph zone as he tried to get off the road as quickly as possible to avoid an accident.

But despite his explanation and a police photograph clearly showing his wife Rovina in distress, the 63-year-old has been told he is to face a court.

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"I'm staggered that this is happening," he said yesterday. "My first duty was to my wife.

"I was frightened she would swallow her tongue or bang her head on the door or window. Worse still, it could have led us to crash into oncoming traffic.

"My priority was to get parked and get Rovina in a position where she couldn't harm herself and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again."

Former soldier Mr Duffy, who has never received a speeding ticket in his 43 years of motoring, was driving his wife home to Penrith in February when she started to have one of her frequent fits.

After Cumbria Police sent a letter ordering him to pay a £60 fine and giving him three penalty points, he wrote back explaining why he had inadvertently strayed over the speed limit. But they said that while they had "every sympathy" he had still broken the law.

"I tried everything I could to make them see sense,' added Mr Duffy, who served in Northern Ireland as a sergeant in the Royal Artillery before becoming his wife's full-time carer in 1986.

"They've now sent the file to the Crown Prosecution Service and told me that I'll have to go to court.

"I understand that I broke the law but I find it ironic that I was doing so whilst trying to look after my wife and preventing an accident from happening on the roads.

"Had I carried on driving whilst she was thrashing around she could have hit the steering wheel and forced us to swerve across the road into the path of traffic coming in the other direction.

"I needed to stop and for a few seconds I strayed over the speed limit in a bid to get us off the road as quickly as possible. I don't see much wrong with that.

"I just can't believe after telling the police what had happened that they're still pursuing this - even with the photographic evidence.

"I've been a law-abiding person all of my life and would rather die than break the law."

Mrs Duffy, 63, developed epilepsy after suffering from meningitis and has up to seven fits a day. She said: "Sydney has always looked after me. It's a 24-hour job with lots of stress. This is the last thing we need."

A spokesman for Cumbria Police said: "We cannot discuss specific alleged speeding offences while they are sub judice as it may prejudice future court hearings.

"Anyone caught speeding within the nationally agreed limits has the option of either accepting the conditional offer of a fixed penalty, or taking the matter to court where any mitigating circumstances may be considered by the magistrates."