Bailiffs move in on Riverdance man

Deborah Linton

March 27, 2008

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A MOTORIST fined for playing his Riverdance CD too loudly is now fighting off bailiffs.

Markus Aitken has refused to pay the £30 penalty notice he got in 2004.

Costs added since then mean he now owes £270 - and the father of two has been called on by bailiffs five times.

The battle started when Mr Aitken, from Littleborough, Rochdale, stopped to ask an officer for directions in Bury.

She pointed the keen Irish dancer in the right direction before turning her attention to his music and giving him a ticket for 'excessive noise'.

The 33-year old insists he wants his day in court and evidence he committed an offence.

The last time bailiffs came to collect the money was at 7.30am. Mr Aitken says they shouted threats through the letterbox, while he was inside with his girlfriend and their two sons, aged four and four months.

Empty handed

They left an hour later, empty handed.

"It's just a farce - all this over Riverdance," said Mr Aitken, a recovery driver.

"It's hardly offensive and I don't believe it was too loud as I was able to have a conversation with the policewoman across a busy main road while it was playing.

"If there is evidence that I have committed an offence I will pay but I am waiting for them to take me to court to prove it."

Bailiffs visited his parents' pub, in Whitefield, four times in the months following the incident before turning up at his family home without a warrant.

A member of staff at Drake's Bailiffs said: "We're not chasing this any further. We will refer it to the magistrates' court."

A GMP spokesman said fixed penalty notices could be issued if officers believed a vehicle was causing 'excessive noise' and if that noise could be 'avoided by the exercise of reasonable care on the part of the driver'.

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Showing comments 1 to 24 and replies | View All

duncan balls, manchester (27/03/2008 at 06:48)

will someone just sort this nonsense out please, then maybe I wont have to wait 38 hours for someone to fingerprint my mums flat after its burgled

Mr Angry, Bury (27/03/2008 at 08:06)

They may not be able to do anything about crime and anti social yobs, but they are really on the ball when it comes to noisy music.

Fearless on the front line fight against crime, the GMP are'nt they?

And bailiffs are just fascist bully boys and capitalist running dogs

The Bobelesque, MANCHESTER (27/03/2008 at 08:13)

I know it sounds trivial but I live near the junction of two major roads and am often disturbed by the boom boom of inconsiderate jive monkeys playing their music too loud. On the other hand, perhaps she could have simply asked him to turn it down.

mylifeinthemafia (27/03/2008 at 08:33)

If I had my way he'd be doing 10 years for playing that rubbish.

poc (27/03/2008 at 08:53)

mylifeinthemafia 27/03/2008 at 08:33
"If I had my way he'd be doing 10 years for playing that rubbish."

With our justice system you may well get your wish ;-p

Trudy, Bolton (27/03/2008 at 09:06)

This is taking it a bit too far and wasting public money - it can't have been too loud or else she wouldn't have been able to hear his request for directions. Stop victimising this poor man! I'm sure time & money would be better spent on fighting crime of which we have more than our share

anthony, Accrington,Lancashire (27/03/2008 at 09:16)

It isn't very pleasant to have anybody driving at speed all hours of the day and night blasting music from cars;why does everybody else have to hear what a young chav or older like in music?

jomov, Manchester (27/03/2008 at 09:30)

mylifeinthemafia - they might just bring back the death penalty now!

Manchester Born & Bred, Manchester (27/03/2008 at 09:31)

Have to say I wasn't aware playing music in your car loudly was an offence. I knew you could be stopped if your actual car was modified to be noisy. There are even CDs on the market which kind of encourage it - those '20 Greatest Drving Hits' etc which the ads show blasting out of cars while driving down some American highway. I love playing music really loud while driving around and singing my heart out and I'm sure I'm not the only one. It is all rather petty, she should have just had a word with him about it.

ace, manchester (27/03/2008 at 10:12)

Surely music is for the listener,not for the rest of the planet to listen to? why cant people listen to music at a decent level so that it dosne encraoch on other peoples lives.ive been stuck in traffic with a car behind me literally shacking the ground with its music system? this cannot be right.

selfexiled (27/03/2008 at 10:18)

There as to be more to this than we are being told,firstly the PC would have requested he turned the music down before issuing the penalty and that is were the crux is .If he had turned the music down and then drove away he could have then turned it back up again.There is an element of bloodyminded behaviour in this story and I think the court case will enlighten us .

Damo08, Warrington (27/03/2008 at 10:21)

The law is a joke......how can they fine you for playing music too loud in your car, pathetic!!

ace, manchester (27/03/2008 at 10:44)

Damo08, Warrington
playing music in your car is ok as long as just the people in the car can hear it.Some car owners have a thousand watts of stereo built into their cars "For what?" so that they can blast music out to all the world.this isnt normal listening. its a public menace.

Mark Spencer, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire. (27/03/2008 at 11:31)

Acs wrote:

"Some car owners have a thousand watts of stereo built into their cars"

I have have a 1600 watt amplifier, not in my car but in my home, It is the cure for the brain dead tennents that the landlord of the house next door lets it out to. If you contact the council (and believe me people from houses down the street have) - first they have a word with them, then they put a recording machine in your home to monitor the noise, then they issue an order to "tone it down" and give you a telephone number to ring in the early hours, This drags on for months. 1600 watts of either the type of music they have been playing (after they have stopped) or a heavy metal band to drown theirs is much quicker.

jomov, Manchester (27/03/2008 at 11:52)

Maybe some of these officers should start issueing these fines out to the scallies who play music from their mobile phones on trams and buses....infact anywhere.

Another sad state of affairs....

Rob., Cadishead (27/03/2008 at 12:52)

Mark Spencer wrote "1600 watts of either the type of music they have been playing (after they have stopped) or a heavy metal band to drown theirs is much quicker".

I usually found that Neon knights by Black Sabbath did the trick splendidly

anthony, Accrington,Lancashire (27/03/2008 at 15:13)

What is good about young and old drivers driving around with music on fullblast especially with distorted bass? It's irritating,antisocial and should be jumped on.

Anon (27/03/2008 at 15:44)

What a complete joke!!! I have never heard so much rubbish in my life! I got attacked last christmas and scarred for life! Yet the person who did it only got cautioned - now which is the most serious crime??!! Also I thought noise levels was a issue for the Environment Health not the police!

Fran M, Stockport (27/03/2008 at 15:49)

This is the type of guy who doesn't care about anyone else so long as he can listen to what he wants. Maybe if he had been listening to the music at a reasonable level he might have found his way without having to ask directions.

Phil Taylor (27/03/2008 at 22:52)

And, what particular 'evidence' did the police have that it was too loud. Do they carry decibel meters?

If you are driving too fast, they can measure that. They don't convict you on the basis that it was, 'a bit fast'.

There's an element of the Not The Nine O' Clock News Constable Savagesketch here.

What next, fixed penalties for stepping on the cracks in the pavement?

LookingForLogic, Stockport (28/03/2008 at 01:22)

You are considered to be driving dangerously if your 'in car' music/other volume of noise/distraction is loud enough to drown out the noise of any approaching emergency sirens.

PeteJeepster (28/03/2008 at 02:55)

Innocent 'till PROVEN guilty, (so the law says). When has a Police officer been given the right of Judge and Jury without right of appeal? Seems like right now. Welcome to East Germany friends, it used to be called "GREAT" Britain.. Good luck Marcus. Have your day in court and think about doing something about the harassment you have endured because of this farce. That's a far bigger crime than "playing music in your own car too loudly".

Asdablue (28/03/2008 at 13:09)

ace
this is probably the only time I will ever agree with you. Outside my home is a McDonals drivethrough, sometimes the car noise is so loud I can hear it in my apartment on the opposite side of the road.... what must it be doing to their brains.... although if they had brains they would know not to play music so loud.

Butch Dingle (28/03/2008 at 14:11)

The only crime I can see here is his choice of music!!!

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