A top police officer caught speeding to a "PR event" faked his diary entries to illegally dodge the penalties, a jury heard today (Monday).

Chief Superintendant Adrian Harper was caught doing 53mph in a 40mph zone but lied to his manager to get an exemption form signed off, the court heard.

The respected 45-year-old officer is alleged to have invented three phantom meetings on his electronic diary before having his speeding "approved" by Assistant Chief Constable Ian Dyson.

However, today the senior Surrey Police officer appeared before Winchester Crown Court accused of abusing his position of trust.

The Chief Superintendent of Surrey's Eastern division had led the high-profile investigation into the stabbing of Abigail Witchalls in 2005.

Charles Gabb, prosecuting, told the jury that Chief Supt Harper should not have been exempt from the Notice of Intended Prosecution.

"He was going - according to him - to a meeting, simple as that. There was nothing time imperative or time critical about that. He was simply going to a meeting," he said.

"I am sure Chief Superintendent Harper is a very imposing and impressive man but his meeting was only one that he had arranged that morning.

"It was just a simple PR exercise showing his face to the officers at the Epsom station. He had no-one to see, just to show that the boss was around and who his face was.

"He had to know that when applying for his exemption."

The speeding offence happened as Harper drove an unmarked police vehicle on the A217 between Reigate and Epsom on September 15, 2008, shortly before 1pm.

He added: "There is no dispute whatsoever that Adrian Harper was the driver of the vehicle with which we are concerned.

"He was doing 53 in a 40 zone at the relevant time. There is no dispute and he would have been convicted of the offence of excess speed.

"By virtue of that exemption form and by virtue of that misinformation he avoided the penalty."

Harper was engaged as the Gold Firearms Commander on the day in question.

The prosecutor added that Harper said in police interview that he only altered his diary entries to give an indication of what he would have been doing.

Mr Gabb added: "He said 'I was only doing it to indicate to Mr Dyson what my day would have been.'

"As you will see, some of the detail he put down was downright wrong, false and not just happened to be false by mistake must he must have realised at the time that he did it."

He accepts that he should not have applied for an exemption but will claim he made "an honest mistake."

The paperwork was sent to the Surrey Safety Camera Partnership administrative office after he had it signed off by Assistant Chief Constable Dyson on September 25 - three days after it arrived.

At a meeting at Surrey Police headquarters in Guildford, Surrey, the senior officer wrote on Harper's form: "He was the officer engaged as the Gold Firearms Commander simultaneously required in different parts of the county."

Investigators established that three of his "meetings" were bogus after studying Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras, the court heard.

Harper worked in the anti-corruption and murder squad units at the Metropolitan Police before joining the Surrey force in 2004.

The court heard he got the idea to sign off an exemption for himself after doing a similar thing for junior officer Johnny Johncox in June 2008.

Harper, from Downs Road, Epsom, denies a single count of misconduct in a judicial or public office between September 19, 2008, and October 3, 2008.

Under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 emergency services are entitled to speeding ticket exemptions if they are responding to incidents.

Chief Superintendent Adrian Harper was driving a plain Ford Mondeo which had been fitted with blue lights - but they were not switched on when he was caught speeding.

Assistant Chief Constable Ian Dyson, who signed off the exemption form, said Harper was a "trusted" officer.

"Adrian Harper was a Chief Superintendent in Surrey Police and on a day-to-day basis I trusted him with making key decisions often in critical matters," he said.

"My conversation with him (about the speeding ticket) was brief and Adrian was balancing his responsibilities as a Gold Firearms Commander with his day job."

Harper has been suspended from all duties by the force.

The case, which is being heard by Mr Recorder Keith Cutler, is expected to last four days.

The case was adjourned until Wednesday (July 21) morning.