Met officer gets points on licence after seizing Lamborghini and taking for 1am 'joyride'

Stopped: The car was clocked travelling at up to 63mph in a 30mph zone while it was being driven by a police officer
Sebastian Mann9 August 2016
WEST END FINAL

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A Met police officer who wrongly seized a Lamborghini and was then caught speeding has been given points on his driving licence.

The officer and a colleague confiscated the £200,000 Huracan supercar near Heathrow in June after checks mistakenly indicated it had no insurance.

As they drove it to a pound the car’s hidden tracker clocked the vehicle travelling at up to 63mph in a 30mph zone - prompting the luxury car hire firm which owned the Lamborghini to claim police had taken it for a "joyride".

Today Scotland Yard confirmed the officers involved had faced action, with the driver being slapped with three points on his licence.

City Supercars’ managing director Erwyn Mackee said the confusion arose because the company had recently changed its insurance company and the new details had not registered on the national insurance database.

The owners filmed police as the car was pulled over on June 1

It meant that when the car was pulled over in the early hours of June 1 as a delivery driver was taking it to be collected by a client, police refused to believe a letter Mr Mackee sent them from the insurance broker because they thought it could be photoshopped.

Mr Mackee, 32, said at the time: “Eventually they said they were going to impound the car.

"But each of our cars has a tracker fitted so we can follow what is happening to them and I could not believe it when I saw the car was being driven over double the speed limit.

“The police pound is just across the road from where the car was stopped but the officer obviously decided to take the long way round.”

The tracker records show the car being driven on the North Perimeter Road in Hounslow at speeds of 53mph, 47 mph and 63 mph - all in a 30 mph limit.

After the incident, an angry Mr Mackee posted a tweet to @MetPolice saying: “Your officers unlawfully impounded our Lamborghini tonight&went for joy ride at over double speed limit.”

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said officers had since established the Lamborghini had adequate insurance.

"After becoming aware of the car owner's concerns, an internal investigation was conducted," he said.

"The police officer who drove the car was given three penalty points on his police driving record. A second officer was subject to management action.

"We are in the process of reimbursing the owner of the car the statutory £150 removal fee."

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