I don’t think you are approaching this correctly.
The arrows advising you to change lane are not mandatory. They are advisory and are accompanied by yellow flashing lights. There is no penalty for ignoring them.
The red “X” is accompanied by red flashing lights and is mandatory. You
must not proceed beyond it in the lane to which it applies. It does not mean you may do so if you are unable to move safely to an open lane. It is equivalent to red traffic light and your only option, if you cannot change lanes, is to stop.
I cannot see how knowing how long the preceding “arrow” signs were illuminated will help you. The red X which you passed had been displayed for 30 minutes and it would have been visible from good distance as you approached it.
But if this isn’t recorded or logged then the judge would simply find me Guilty based on one photo of my car in the red X lane,
There’s every likelihood of that, with or without the information about the arrows.
Despite me saying in court that the arrows were not clearly displayed in both lanes and did not give me enough time to safely move over before the red x was displayed..
Then in those circumstances you should have stopped. The court will be aware of that. It’s explained here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/know-your-traffic-signs/motorway-signs-signals-and-road-markings#motorway-signals-and-variable-signs“When red lights are flashing above your lane, you must stop unless you can move safely to a lane where red signals are not showing.”
