Mike Rutherford's column

	Hardliner Meredydd Hughes has preached about the alleged evils of speeding, but then breaks the limits he demands we stick to

it saddens me to say this, but I’ll remember 2007 as the year of the bad cop. This is not sour grapes on my part. I don’t arrive at my conclusion that the boys and girls in blue have reached their lowest point ever because they’ve caught me offending, then punished me with fines, court costs and job-threatening points on my licence.

No, I’ve been as squeaky clean in 2007 as I have been for more years than I care to remember. I’ve barely seen a traffic cop, never mind spoken to one or got on the wrong side of an officer. I haven’t had any run-ins with revenue-raising cameras, either. If this doesn’t sound too pompous, it’s with considerable pride that I report that my licence remains spotless and that I have an unwavering determination to keep it in pristine condition.

Sadly, I’m not convinced that certain elements of the police 'service’ are as proud, determined or clean. Seems to me that the rot has set in at the very top. And for proof, look at Meredydd Hughes. This high-profile ‘Leading Traffic Cop’ (allegedly) has got to be the hypocrite of the year and is presumably challenging John Prescott as the most hypocritical highly paid public servant of the decade.

I didn’t necessarily have a problem with Hughes breaking the speed limit. Speeding is something cops do, politicians do and motoring journalists (me included) do. And we all know, deep down, that there is appropriate speed which is justifiable and there is inappropriate speed which is inexcusable. Not that Mr Hughes sees things like that. Not only does he believe that all speeding is wrong and unforgivable, he’s paid handsomely to think and say that as the chairman of roads policing at the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).

This holier-than-thou, uncompromising hardliner has been preaching for years about the alleged evils of speeding. But what does he do when he steps off his soapbox and his authoritarian lecturing stops? He breaks the very limits that he demands we stick to. And he exceeds them in such spectacular fashion that he has to be banned after driving at 30mph OVER the limit. That’s breathtaking arrogance. That’s inappropriate speeding. That’s why ‘do as I say, don’t do as I do’ Hughes has been disqualified. That’s why he’s now the ex-chairman of roads policing. That’s why he should hang his head in shame and be struck off as a cop.

I don’t care whether he’s charged with bringing his profession into disrepute or he’s formally accused of gross and sickening hypocrisy of the highest order. Or maybe ‘unfit for purpose’ would be more suitable. Either way, he is just not credible or able to function properly as a cop because he has one set of rules for his precious self, and another for the public he berates with laughable sermons about the supposed wickedness and immorality of speeding.

Look in the mirror Mr Hughes. Then stab your vicious, accusing finger at the person it should be pointed at – yourself. And at the other end of the food chain, some of the lowest-ranking cops really need to be asking themselves exactly what their role is in life. I’m talking about Police Community Support Officers who have little or no powers of arrest and are famously reluctant to get stuck in when the going gets tough. But some of these fake cops are now prepared and allowed to pick up speed guns and aim them at motorists.

How come? Because they’re using the excuse that they are empowered to tackle anti-social behaviour – and speeding is exactly that, they argue. It’s a new money-making scam. Even the Police Federation objects to it.