Malaga reckless driver without licence exceeds 200km/h on Fuengirola motorway with wife and children in the car

The provincial court of Malaga has upheld the nine-month prison sentence of a man who the National Police caught driving without a licence and exceeding 200km/h on the motorway between Fuengirola and Malaga.

The incident happened on the evening of 18 November 2024. The police noticed the suspicious manoeuvres of a car that was going past the speed limit, overtaking other vehicles and swerving erratically through traffic.

The driver was posing such a risk that the police saw themselves forced to reduce their speed and increase their distance to avoid endangering other road users.

According to the ruling, the defendant picked his wife and children up and drove to the Miramar shopping centre in Fuengirola. The events that landed him in court unfolded at around 8.15pm, with the wife and children still in the car.

The ruling says that the defendant was "continuously zigzagging, endangering other road users and his own vehicle". The police following him stated that he was driving "without respecting the most basic traffic rules", indiscriminately overtaking other vehicles.

The defence focused on the lack of objective evidence. There were no speed cameras, no recordings and no photographs of the vehicle. There had also been no administrative complaint filed, nor had the Guardia Civil been notified at any point.

According to the defendant, the police statements were "insufficient" to support a conviction for reckless driving. However, the court did not agree with this argument.

The ruling states that the testimony of a police officer does not, in itself, carry "an automatic presumption of truthfulness" in a criminal trial. However, in this specific case, the court said that the statements of the two police officers were "clear, consistent and without relevant contradictions".

According to the court, the lack of a speed camera does not invalidate the account. The ruling states that someone following another car can estimate its speed by observing the speedometer reading.

The court said that the conviction does not depend solely on proving whether the vehicle was travelling at exactly 200 kilometres per hour. It rather focused on the danger the style of driving posed.

"The mere fact that the defendant was driving (...) continuously zigzagging, endangering other road users, would already be sufficient," the ruling states.

The defendant appealed the lower court ruling.

The provincial court stated that an appeal against a conviction cannot be reduced to a mere formality. The court must re-examine the evidence and determine whether it is sufficient to overcome the presumption of innocence.

The court concluded that the police account was sufficient and that there was no reasonable doubt regarding the reckless nature of the driving.

The provincial court rejected the driver's appeal and upheld the nine-month prison sentence for reckless driving, in addition to a two-year driving ban. It also confirmed the 16-month fine, with a daily rate of ten euros, for driving without a licence.

The car involved in the reckless journey between Fuengirola and Malaga did not belong to the defendant. He had borrowed it from a woman who had rented it a week earlier by a woman at Malaga Airport. The ruling states that it was not sufficiently proven that she knew the man lacked a driving licence, which is why she was acquitted.

The same vehicle was also located, according to the rental company's GPS signal, near two bars that sustained damage. At one, on Camino de Suárez, the sliding door and glass window were forced open and a slot machine was also damaged, although the perpetrators were unable to steal anything. Minutes later, at a second establishment, the shutter and glass door were also forced open and an attempt was made to open another slot machine, also without success.

The vehicle's proximity to both establishments led to the driver being charged with two counts of attempted burglary. However, the court found insufficient evidence to convict him of those crimes and acquitted him.

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