Who – at least among those of a Conservative mind — didn’t feel a pang of pleasure at the news that Sadiq Khan has been convicted of failing to pay road tax? Won’t that serve him right, he who has been merrily handing out fines to people who fall foul of his Ultra Low Emissions Zone?

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Well no, actually. Whatever you think of Khan and ULEZ, it shouldn’t blind you to the outrage against justice that has just been committed against him. Khan was convicted by a magistrate’s court in Herefordshire two weeks ago and handed a £220 fine, plus £85 costs and demanded to pay the £35.84 in road tax which he failed to pay.

But here is the outrage: Khan says that he doesn’t own the car. Moreover, he says that he didn’t have the opportunity to defend himself because he didn’t even know about the prosecution. How come? Because it was one of hundreds of thousands of cases prosecuted each year under the ‘Single Justice Procedure’ (SJP), which was introduced under Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015. This allows large numbers of cases to be hurried through........

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