KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
In this month’s edition we feature more road traffic issues relevant to the trade supplied by Patterson Law. These questions are based on real enquiries that we have received from professional drivers this month. If you need any advice on motoring matters please email
e.patterson@
pattersonlaw.co.uk or call us on 01626 359800 for free legal advice.
Q A
I was pulled over in September 2021 and charged for driving without a licence and insurance. I had my licence revoked at the time (I got six points for using a phone) and was waiting for my driving test. In
January 2022 I passed my driving test again. I did not receive any paperwork or communication from Yorkshire Police. Today, I just received a single justice procedure notice. I’m now concerned after six months I am now going to lose my licence again after just getting it back.
Firstly, if you had no licence, it very much sounds like you should plead guilty to that. But in regard to the insurance, did you have an insurance policy? If the police are suggesting that your policy was simply
invalid because you did not have a licence, then I can defend that. If however you simply did not have an insurance policy at all, then you may well be better pleading guilty to that as well.
You are correct, this could pick you at risk of another six points putting you at risk of a six month disqualification. But you won’t be at risk of having your licence revoked again. When someone passes their test for the first time they have a two-year probation period, during which if you receive six points you lose your licence. But that only happens once – it doesn’t apply the second time you take the test.
However, a ban is not inevitable. When somebody reaches 12 points the courts have the discretion not to disqualify if they believe that a ban would cause you exceptional hardship, and so that is the argument that we will present.
We will spend the coming weeks getting to know you and preparing your robust mitigation. We will advise you on exactly what character references you need and what supporting documents to take with you. We will attend with you on the day and present mitigation with all of your sup- porting documents to ensure that we secure the minimum possible sentence and try to avoid a ban.
Q 80
I picked up my daughter from school and was going home when my daughter started vomiting in the back seat and there was no place to park. I picked up my mobile phone in my right hand while thinking
who should I call for help, maybe the GP or an ambulance but had not made the call before police crossed me at the
front and asked me to park. He asked me my details and also questions which I answered all no comment. Today I received a prosecution letter and I have 28 days to respond to the penalty and six points. Kindly tell me what will be outcome of this case or what should I do.
A
This comes down to whether you were ‘using’ the phone. What you have received is a conditional offer, offering you the opportunity to accept six points and a £200 fine instead of going to court. It is your
option whether to accept this or not.
If you accept it, you will get the points, pay the fine and that will be the end of 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. This will be called a single justice procedure notice and it will give you the option to plead guilty or not guilty by post.
If you plead guilty you will receive maximum credit in sentence meaning the fines and costs will be kept to a minimum and you will get six points (but if you are going to plead guilty you may as well accept the conditional offer). If you plead not guilty the matter will then be listed for a trial in another couple of months time.
At the trial you would need to attend. As long as you have rejected the officers’ statements they would then attend court as well. They would give evidence and you would cross examine them. You would give evidence and you would also be cross examined.
There are a couple of ways to defend it. It is a defence to using a mobile phone if you can show you were calling the emergency services. However, I have a couple of problems with this. The first is that you hadn't actually made the call yet, and second it does not help that you answered no comment at the roadside.
A better way of defending it would be to make them prove ‘use’. Before we put forward anything, the prosecution must prove that you were using a phone whilst driving. I know you say you were about to use it, but you never actually used it. You simply had it in your hand - which is not committing the offence. If you are found not guilty then you receive no points or fine. You walk free. If you are found guilty then you still receive the six points but the fines and costs would be a lot higher, upwards of £1,000 most likely.
If you want to instruct us you can come back to us at anytime. Q
In November 2020 I believed that I had purchased a fully comprehensive insurance for my car with [an insurance company] (Policy No. *********). I did this via the online renewal system provided with the one
JUNE 2022
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