British cop, David Mayes, has been banned from driving after he took both hands off the steering wheel to give a thumbs-up to a speed camera. He was answering a 911 call at the time. Just to make sure he got his point across, PC Mayes repeated the performance just over an hour later on a second emergency call.

He posed twice to the same camera in a 40mph built-up area, the first time driving at 68mph and the second, 73mph. He was not breaking any laws as far as speed was concerned - the police are authorized to go at that speed when answering emergency calls. His ban was for "conduct (that) fell well below what we and the public expect.." The crux of the matter is that the policeman had both hands off the wheel for a couple of seconds.

In sentencing, Judge Entwistle told Mayes, "Such behaviour from a policeman, to whom we should be able to look up and respect, only increases the already floundering respect with which the public perceive the police."

Nope. The floundering respect is based on police taking up their time with piddling stuff like this while real
criminals go uncaught and unpunished.

Mayes now faces misconduct proceedings.

To see photographic evidence of Mayes dreadful misconduct, click here