The collapse of several court cases that had seen people from across Yorkshire charged with attending an unauthorised car meet on a Bradford street has been described as “disappointing.”
The motorists were all due to appear at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates Court last Thursday to answer charges relating to an unauthorised car event at the Euroway Trading Estate in October 2023.
But a solicitor representing Bradford Council said the authority would not be offering any evidence, and all of the cases were dismissed.
Bradford Council says it “remains committed to prosecuting such cases,” and would look at the failed prosecution and “learn for future cases.”
The collapse of the cases came just a few days after West Yorkshire Police posted on social media about the work being done to prevent such meets, and urging people to report events.
The nine men listed to appear at court had been charged with failing to comply with a Public Space Protection Order.
This order, introduced by Bradford Council in 2019, allows the Council and police to take action against drivers that carry out acts that are not illegal, but are widely seen as anti-social.
These can include unwanted shouting or wolf whistling at people from a car, deliberately revving engines late at night or attending unauthorised car meets on public streets or in car parks.
The nine cases due to be heard last week related to a car meet on 15 October on Wharfedale Road, near the M606 and part of the Euroway Trading Estate.
The defendants had come to the street from Bradford, Wakefield, Ossett, Pontefract, Knottingley and Leeds.
Last Thursday Mr Rice, prosecuting on behalf of Bradford Council, said: “The Local Authority will offer no evidence in respect to all these cases.”
When asked why by Magistrates, he said: “There has been deficiencies with evidence relating to the way police originally handled the matter.”
After the cases were dismissed, Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted Bradford Council for more clarity on what led to the cases collapsing.
A Council spokesperson said: “PSPOs are a useful piece of legislation which some councils choose to use, without the need for Police input, to prosecute anti-social behaviour.
“Our council legal team regularly reviews council enforcement powers as well as evidence in preparation for these cases and on this occasion the council legal team took the decision not to pursue the case.
“The Police weren’t operationally involved in this particular case. This does not change the fact that the Council remains proactive on prosecuting PSPOs.”
Councillor Kamran Hussain, Executive Member for Neighbourhoods and Community Safety, said: “Residents rightly challenge the council and the Police about instances of anti-social driving, and I support residents in calling it out as completely unacceptable.
“We’ve made it absolutely clear that such actions need to be met with the full force of the law. I will be meeting with council officers and police partners to discuss what can be learned for future cases.”
Councillor Matt Edwards (Green, Tong) has long called for more action to stop racing and car meets on the Euroway Estate.
On hearing about the collapse of the case he said: “This is really a really disappointing development and I’ll be speaking to the anti-social team and the portfolio holder to make sure this is only a temporary setback.
“Over £10,000 fines have been issued by Bradford Council as a result of illegal street racing on Euroways, which only goes to show how serious the issue was here.
“It’s taken repeated requests from Tong Green Party councillors to get regular enforcement action, and we will be making sure that the legal team at Bradford Council get this sorted.”
Just days before the court case West Yorkshire Police’s Bradford South Neighbourhood Policing Team posted on social media that car meets on Euroway “have become a regular occurrence.”
The post added: “There is a lot of work ongoing between the police and partners to target these car meets and prevent future meets.
“We conduct regular patrols at this location at peak times which are shared with us by local residents and businesses.
“Additionally, the CCTV installed at the Euroway will be reviewed after every witnessed or reported car meet.
“Please keep reporting these issues as we need to build up a picture of how often they take place and for how long.”
