‘Falklands’ Number plate puts Clarkson in Argentinian firing line: Again!

IT would seem that Jeremy Clarkson is in the crosshairs of the Argentinian courts again after prosecutors reopen the ‘Number plate switching incident’ and seek a three-year jail sentence for former Top Gear host.

The Argentinian appeals court has asked a judge to reopen the investigation into Clarkson’s Christmas special 2014, in which he drove a red Porsche with the number plate H982 FLK, (which was later changed to HI VAE) 1400 miles through Argentina.

Finally having to abandon the car due to angry mobs, the Top Gear team had to cut short filming and escape the country under police escort after being told to leave by angry locals who swarmed into their hotel and threatened to kill Clarkson.

Even though Judge Maria Cristina Barrionuevo had previously stated that the Top Gear team were not acting maliciously by changing the plates, but rather did so because of huge public and government pressure, prosecutor Daniel Curtale is asking for the maximum three-year sentence for illegally switching number plates on a car.

The appeal, which has been instigated by Osvaldo Hillar – an Argentinian veteran of the 1982 war – who is a spokesman for the Malvinas Veterans Centre, remained adamant that the case be brought to trial. However, due to the complicated, lengthy judicial and political processes involved, it is likely to take years before Clarkson would be asked to give evidence.