The individual who fitted a laser jamming device in his commercial vehicle to evade speeding fines has received a suspended prison term, been instructed to pay a fine of £3000, and subjected to a two-month curfew.

Jason Moore was convicted by a jury at Swansea Crown Court for obstructing justice by installing a Laser Star jamming device on a VW Transporter van to obstruct a laser speed camera operator from Dyfed-Powys Police in determining the vehicle's speed.

James Hartson, the prosecutor, informed the court that in September 2018, the van was observed traveling at a high rate of speed as it neared the speed camera near Nantyci Showground on the A40, St Clears, heading towards Camarthen.

The camera operator encountered an error message while trying to measure the speed of the vehicle. Despite this, the operator had received training from Road Safety Support experts to identify the specific conditions that could trigger such an error message.

Dyfed-Powys Police, as part of Road Safety Support, enlisted the expertise of Steve Callaghan, a forensic video analyst and laser jammers specialist employed by the company.

Mr. Callaghan received a copy of the video and verified the presence of a suspicious device in the footage. Additionally, he observed that the laser signal jammers emitted light from the van's grille while error messages were being displayed by the laser speedmeter.

Following Mr. Callaghan's initial assessment and recommendations to Dyfed-Powys Police, the van was retrieved in order to conduct testing on the device and gather evidence.

A comprehensive report was compiled detailing the examination results and the circumstances surrounding the incident, during which the speed could not be determined. Road Safety Support determined that the van was traveling at a speed of 72 mph, exceeding its maximum permitted speed of 60 mph.

Mr. Moore stated that he was unaware of the Laser Star jamming system's ability to interfere with the speed measurement feature of a police speedmeter. He asserted that he purchased the device specifically for its parking sensor function.

Mr. Moore selected David Winstanley, a former police collision investigator, who asserted his proficiency in laser and video systems, to serve as his expert witness.

Mr. Winstanley emphasized that the Laser Star should be marketed as a 'parking sensor' rather than being viewed primarily as a laser jamming device.

Mr. Callaghan clarified that utilizing a laser beam for identifying parking obstacles was completely unsuitable and mostly ineffective. He pointed out that a parking sensor does not have to be set to disrupt a laser speedmeter in any circumstance. Additionally, the Laser Star is advertised as being able to disrupt speed cameras in its instructions and marketing materials, which is not a feature of a parking sensor.

Mr. Moore further mentioned in his explanation that the security firm he was employed by required staff to cover the costs of any harm inflicted on company vehicles. He argued that he installed the device to minimize the likelihood of damage.

Moore was convicted by a jury and received a sentence at Swansea Crown Court on October 18, 2021.

Judge Vosper QC deemed Moore's defense as baseless, expressing no astonishment over the jury's dismissal of it.

Moore received a suspended 32-week custodial sentence, which will remain in effect for a period of 2 years. Additionally, he has been instructed to settle costs and fines amounting to £3,000, and a curfew lasting two months has been imposed upon him.

Can police tell if you have a laser jammer?

The utilization of a lidar gun by the police, directed towards a vehicle, will result in the device displaying either "no response" or cosine error. In the event of such an error, the police will be unable to determine whether the vehicle is equipped with a laser jammer or if they are simply not targeting the vehicle accurately. Consequently, this grants the driver an opportunity to modify their speed before the police can retrieve the data once more.

Since police need to be stationary and able to see a vehicle at close range without cover for lidar to work properly, if police receive a false response the first time they fire their lidar gun, the targeted driver will likely have time to adjust his speed when out of range. Lidar is most often used by motorcycle police or identifiable patrol cars, who use it most effectively on major roads, which limits when and where they can be used. In the case of heavy traffic, the police lidar gun is very effective at focusing on the vehicle and instantly calculating its speed, distance and direction.