I RECENTLY committed a serious crime; not mugging somebody – I would only receive a police caution for that, as once happened in Winchester.

Relaxing whilst driving up Lances Hill, in an empty dual carriageway built to 50mph standard, my speedometer needle crept up a tiny fraction to the horrendous speed of 36mph.

This resulted in the option of paying £60, with three points on my licence, or attending a Driver Awareness Course, paying £90 but no points.

I chose the course as I thought it would not increase my insurance premium.

The accompanying documentation stressed that the database was strictly confidential and only disclosed to other police forces. Wrong choice!

On renewing my premium I found that I had to answer the question “Have you attended a Driver Awareness Course”?

I was tempted to answer “No”, as the database was confidential, but than realised that this could result in the insurance becoming invalid.

Telling the truth resulted in an increased premium of £47, making my total penalty £137, plus spending the best part of a day in the company of other traffic criminals.

Bearing in mind that this increase will be reflected in future premiums, I recommend that future traffic criminals pay only £60 and accept the points.

Jim Brown, Sholing, Southampton