14 DAY TRIAL // Jon Roles got himself out of a missing tax disc fine after proving that a snail actually ate the important document. When police couldn't see the disc on the broken van from Yeovil, Somerset, they sent the garage owner a $164 (€118) fine.
The man found the notice when he went to pick up the van and, knowing he actually had what the officers were looking for, he started searching for it; but at a closer look, he noticed a snail eating what seemed to be the remains of the disc.
In an attempt to help his son, Roles' father started explaining to law enforcement officers the weird and unbelievable situation, but no one thought it was true until sending actual photos of the snail and the scraps of the document.
The “snail ate my car tax disc” excuse caused a few giggles, both to the garage owner and the police officers handling the case. “It's almost unbelievable. I had a bit of a chuckle as I just couldn't believe what I saw. I think snails like glue and ink so maybe that's why it ate the disc. It was very much a “the dog ate my homework” moment, but we still had the penalty notice to deal with,” Mr. Roles' father said according to Express UK News.
Even if officers had a hard time believing the excuse and were skeptic about the evidence, they argued that even if the happening were real, they could still be fined for not properly displaying the document. After further explaining and photos of the snail eating the documents, Somerset Police waived the fine.
They also replied to the Roles family with a letter saying “After consideration of all the facts I have decided to excuse payment of the fixed penalty. Please feel free to interrogate the offender, preferably with a teaspoon of salt. Merry Christmas,” notes Express News.
At least, the officers had a sense of humor and agreed to accept the man's unique claim. Taking into consideration the fact that dogs that eat homework are overrated, and the snail eating the important document excuse worked, maybe other weird animals destroying papers will be featured in future claims.