I have received a Fixed Penalty for a traffic light offence. If I had performed an emergency stop, it would have meant that the person behind me would have hit me. Do I have a case if I take this matter to Court?

This is an “absolute offence” which means that you will be convicted  if the Police can show that your vehicle crossed the stop line when the red line was illuminated. The rules are that you must stop on amber, unless it is unsafe to do so but you must stop on red, regardless of the circumstances.

There is an outside chance that the Court may decide not to impose points if you can prove that a collision would have occurred had you stopped but this is extremely remote and you would have to show that the vehicle behind did not come to a halt in order to support your case.  However, if you run the case to Court and lose, you would face increased costs and a higher fine.