A $156 speeding ticket was thrown out of court yesterday after it was revealed a city cop wasn't trained to run the laser model he used to nab the alleged speeder.

And the paralegal who successfully fought the ticket says the decision throws the legitimacy of thousands of speeding tickets into doubt.

"There's hundreds of thousands of tickets out there that should all be suspended until this proceeds to the Court of Appeal," said Dave Walkeden, an agent with the paralegal firm POINTTS and a retired city traffic cop.

"If they've already paid their ticket they can file an appeal, based on this decision, to get their money back."

Crown prosecutors are already planning an appeal of the traffic commissioner's decision.

"It's our belief that there's case law that the constables don't have to be trained on every separate type of laser," said Peter Forbes, traffic unit leader at the Edmonton Crown prosecutors' office.

"If you've trained on one (model), they all operate on the same principle."

Walkeden said his client, Christopher Tkachuk, 27, was dinged with the $156 ticket on June 16 on the Sherwood Park Freeway near 50 Street.

Tkachuk, a heavy duty mechanic, was accused of driving 106 kmh in an 80-kmh zone. He opted to fight the ticket so the demerits wouldn't drive up the cost of his insurance.

Walkeden said it was revealed at Tkachuk's trial yesterday that the cop operating the laser that day hadn't been trained to use that specific laser model.

Walkeden said the constable was trained on an older version of the equipment which came out in the early 1990s; the one he used to nab Tkachuk came out in 2003.

"In 2003, he was handed this model and the operator's manual and was told to use it," said Walkeden, who was a trainer in the Edmonton Police Service traffic division until he retired from the force in 2004.

"Without specific training in this instrument, he shouldn't be using it. You would not expect a licensed pilot trained to fly a Cessna 172 to jump into a Boeing 737 and fly to Europe."

EPS Staff Sgt. Darren Eastcott, head of the traffic section, said he's confident all traffic section cops are properly trained for the equipment they're using.

"The equipment is basically the same," he said. "One model to the next, there's not that much of a difference.

"You have to look at what's being lost as the focus here... was the guy speeding? He probably was."

Tkachuk, though elated over his win in court, said he was "disgusted" to find out the officer wasn't specifically trained on the model of laser he was using.

"I vouch for all tradespeople in Alberta - we have to jump through so many hoops (to be certified). It's kind of disgusting that the police are cutting corners and not training these guys to do their job properly."


EDMONTON -- A $156 speeding ticket was thrown out of court yesterday after it was revealed a city cop wasn't trained to run the laser model he used to nab the alleged speeder.

And the paralegal who successfully fought the ticket says the decision throws the legitimacy of thousands of speeding tickets into doubt.

"There's hundreds of thousands of tickets out there that should all be suspended until this proceeds to the Court of Appeal," said Dave Walkeden, an agent with the paralegal firm POINTTS and a retired city traffic cop.

"If they've already paid their ticket they can file an appeal, based on this decision, to get their money back."

Crown prosecutors are already planning an appeal of the traffic commissioner's decision.

"It's our belief that there's case law that the constables don't have to be trained on every separate type of laser," said Peter Forbes, traffic unit leader at the Edmonton Crown prosecutors' office.

"If you've trained on one (model), they all operate on the same principle."

Christopher Tkachuk, 27, was dinged with the $156 ticket on June 16 on the Sherwood Park Freeway.