KNOW YOUR RIGHTS


entitled to see the evidence just yet so you cannot legally demand it.


If you decide not to accept it then the matter will proceed to court. And that means that in a few months you will receive a court summons. If you plead not guilty then you CAN demand to see the evidence against you. But the risk is that if you take it that far and then decide to plead guilty after all, then you will have lost a lot of credit and the fines/costs will be a lot higher than the £200 you’re being offered now.


had points on my licence and the ability to drive is very important for my job.


I was the driver at the time of the offence and if memory serves me correctly I held the watch to call someone but that is only because the strap broke, and so the handling of the watch was only to stop it falling to the floor. According to the notice where the offence took place I had just turned right from being stationary into that road and so would have been driving at less than 10mph and must have been caught on camera.


Is there a point me challenging this or in your experience should I accept the fixed penalty?


A


I would suggest calling the police to see if they will provide a copy of the evidence. If they will, then you are going to be in a better position to know whether to accept the points or not.


What you are looking for is whether they have evidence that you were driving (which doesn't necessarily mean moving, driving could even mean stationary in traffic) on a road whilst using (for any reason) a handheld (it must be held in your hand) phone or any other device capable of receiving data (which would include a smartwatch).


If they have all of those elements, then accept the fixed penalty. If not, you may have a case to challenge.


From what you have said, it sounds likely they will have evidence of you holding the watch, using it, and driving, so it’s likely you’ll have to accept. If the watch was strapped to your wrist instead of held in your hand, or if you had pulled over and stopped the car then it may be a different story.


If they refuse to give you the evidence at this stage, you’ll have to make a decision without it. You’re not


PHTM JANUARY 2023 Q A


I went to court last week for driving 36 in a 30. I had nine points at the time but three have come off because I delayed the court hearing twice so they expired. But the court took the


points into account anyway and banned me for six months! Can they do that even though they’ve expired??


Yes – penalty points run from date of offence to date of offence. What that means is that the court takes into account the number of points on your licence at the time the offence


was committed, rather than the time of the court hearing. So they were right to consider a ban.


You have an automatic right to appeal to the Crown Court, but any Notice of Appeal must be lodged with the Magistrates’ Court within 21 days. So we have to move quickly.


If we appeal, the case would be heard by a bench of a Judge and two Magistrates (no jury). On Appeal we are not necessarily appealing the Magistrates' decision - the Crown Court can make its own decision so it may reduce the ban but if unsuccessful, it would likely impose an additional £400 in costs.


Ultimately we would appeal on the basis of Exceptional Hardship. A six-month ban is not inevitable if we can persuade the court that a ban would cause hardship.


Call us for free advice so that we can discuss your case and assess the prospects of success.


If you want regular updates on road traffic law follow us on facebook.com/PattersonLawMotoringSolicitors or twitter.com/Patterson_law_


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