Black box helps secure attempted murder conviction

Tracking information from a telematics black box has been used to help jail a man for a knife attack and attempted murder.

There were no witnesses when Daniel Paita, 32, from Kirkintilloch, drove to the house of Barry Divers and cut his throat.

But Paita did not know the courtesy Audi A3 he was driving had been fitted with a black box device that showed his car was at his victim’s house at the time of the attack.

Paita had denied that he was driving the A3 or even in it on the day of the attack. But the telematics box showed all of his movements that day, including a 30-minute visit to his girlfriend.

The evidence and identification by the victim were enough to secure Paita’s conviction. He was sentenced to 11 years in jail at the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday.

The black box information was passed to the police by the anti-fraud team at Asset Protection Europe.

Director of litigation and investigative services Neil Thomas said: “It is extremely pleasing to have been an important cog in convicting an individual like this, it might never have happened at all had the device not been installed in his car.”