A driver has failed to get a CPS lawyer to personally pay him more than £10,000 for refusing to drop a drug-driving prosecution on the basis of a letter from his mum.
Sohail Shahin, 31, was charged with failing to provide a specimen after being pulled over in February 2024.
When he appeared at Brighton Magistrates Court the following month, he said he had not done so because of a needle phobia.
But it wasn’t until October that he submitted any evidence – a note from his mum saying he’d had the phobia since birth and a GP’s note.
The GP note said he’d had a blood test with no issues in 2017, and that he had failed to take up the covid vaccine, with no information on his notes as to why. Shahin said this was because of the phobia.
The Crown Prosecution Service’s reviewing lawyer Mark Tavender reviewed the notes, and said as they fell short of being expert evidence, the prosecution should proceed.
Four months later – about a year after the date of the alleged offence – a psychiatric report from private psychiatrist Dr Irfan Rafiq was submitted, diagnosing a needle phobia.
Around the same time, Mr Tavender also discovered the healthcare worker who had attempted to take the blood sample at Hollingbury police cells was on long term leave, so would not be able to give evidence in person, be cross examined or respond to what was said in Dr Rafiq’s report.
Taking both these things into account, he decided the case should be discontinued.
The letter sent to Shahin, of Woodland Drive, Hove, explained he could apply for his defence costs from central funds.
But instead, he opted to apply for both defence costs and wasted costs directly with the court – and against Mr Taverner personally.
District Judge Amanda Kelly dismissed the application at Brighton Magistrates Court this morning, saying it was “entirely without merit”.
She said: “The applicant has not satisfied on any balance of probabilities that the respondent has acted unreasonably, improperly or negligently.
“There’s clearly a strong public interest in the prosecution of those who chose to drink drive or drive with illicit drugs in their system, who endanger the lives of themselves and those around them.
It does not begin to be enough for the defendant to say ‘I have a needle phobia’ and then for it to be up to the CPS to disprove this.
“If it was … everyone would be able to drink or drug drive in the knowledge they would be able to refuse a blood specimen when asked merely by stating they have a needle phobia. It’s right and proper the CPS should require evidence.”
She also directed the defendant’s costs should be assessed and repaid from central funds, according to the usual rates.
Shahin was also arrested last year for an alleged assault near his home during a dispute over the reopening of a twitten. No further action was taken.
Why would they dismiss the case anyway. Surly the medical professional would have made a written statement at the time. This person with his mummy’s sick note should be in jail, or at the very least doing some community service