allow a driving conviction to go to appeal before sentencing.

Dismissing the appeal by Maurice Junior Harvey, 21, for dangerous driving and driving while disqualified, the Chief Justice sent the matter back to magistrate the Wor. Cheryl-Ann Mapp for sentencing.

"I would add that, in future, sentence should be imposed as soon as possible after conviction and not, as in this case, after completion of the appeal process,'' said Mr. Justice Ward.

Last February, Harvey, of North Church Lane, Hamilton Parish, was convicted of driving while disqualified and driving in a manner dangerous to the public on October 19, 1991.

The issue throughout the case was the quality of identification made by two Police officers.

One of the officers, who was parked in a driveway, said he recognised Harvey as he passed along the road in front of him. Another Police officer who was similarly parked did not recognise him.

The person, identified by Police as Harvey, was pursued by the first officer who recognised him as he rode alongside. The other officer identified him after he looked over his right shoulder while riding a motorbike.

Magistrate the Wor. Cheryl-Ann Mapp was satisfied with the identification and convicted Harvey.

The Chief Justice said: "Can one really rely on the identification? It was made at night time, first with a fleeting glance and then under difficult circumstances when all three individuals were riding moving vehicles.

"I remind myself that visual evidence of identification is a class of evidence which is particularly vulnerable to mistake as honest witnesses may also be mistaken witnesses.

"The learned magistrate did not say specifically that she was warning herself of the special need for caution before convicting in reliance on the correctness of the identification.

"The defendant was not approached by Police until two weeks after the alleged incident and the approach arose out of an unrelated matter.

"The point has been taken that the registration number of the motorcycle was not taken by the officers. I cannot reasonably infer from that, that failure to record the registration number means that the officers did not recognise the appellant as the rider of the motorcycle.

"The magistrate had the advantage of seeing the witnesses and of assessing the quality of their evidence.

"The circumstances of the identification were not so difficult that the identification itself would, of necessity, be rendered unsafe.''