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.
If you need advice on motoring matters please email
e.patterson@
pattersonlaw.co.uk or call us on 01626 359800 for free legal advice.
Q
Hi! I have received a letter from the court saying I owe £860. I had no idea what it was for but it’s transpired that it’s a fine for speeding in 2020. The speeding ticket is for a car that
I’ve never owned or even seen. It is apparently registered in my name at an address I haven’t lived in for 12 years. I’ve moved three times since then, but that’s besides the point, it wasn’t me.
I apparently have six points and a fine for the ticket and for not appearing in court. I didn’t appear because this letter went to the old address. They’re now saying I can’t do anything, I have to pay this fine and keep the six points and I will have to appear in court and prove that it wasn’t me.
It just doesn’t seem right. I will have to declare the six points to my work and I could lose my job as I drive and must have a clean licence. It’s stressing me no end and I’ve no idea what to do next.
A
When an offence is committed where the police cannot identify the driver (for example from a speed camera, hit and run, or from a cyclist filming people in traffic on their mobile
phone) the police write to the registered keeper of the vehicle to ask them to nominate the driver. If the registered keeper does not nominate then they are prosecuted for failing to provide information.
So if the vehicle is registered to you at an old address then (rightly or wrongly) the letters will be sent addressed to you at your old address. And after you have failed to respond and been prosecuted, all of the court papers are then sent to the same address – meaning you would not have received these either.
There will most likely have been a court hearing where you did not attend, you were found guilty and given the points/fines.
But there absolutely is something you can do about it. Because you didn’t know about the proceedings you have the right to make a statutory declaration. A
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declaration sets aside the fines and points. You have 21 days from the day you found out to do it. You attend court and swear under oath that you didn’t know about the proceedings – this will then reset the matter and they will ask you to plead guilty or not guilty.
If you plead not guilty, the matter will be adjourned for a trial to a later date and that will give us a few months to prepare.
The defence we would have to put forward to failing to give information is that simply, you never received the request for information. It looks to be a very straightforward defence. Not only did you have nothing to do with this vehicle, but you obviously never received the request as it went to an old address. The only principle the court will enforce is making sure that the reason you didn’t get it wasn’t your fault (for example, it’s your car and you moved without updating the V5, or you were on holiday at the time it was delivered). So if we can prove that essentially you were the victim of fraud, I would hope that we could get the matter withdrawn before trial.
Q
Hi, I drove from X to Y on Wednesday last week in the evening and was late meeting my girlfriend so I left my car in a private car park overnight in the town centre. During the
night my girlfriend and I separated and my phone battery died. As my house keys were in the centre console of my car I went back to quickly charge my phone in my USB slot so that I could book a taxi to my aunt’s house as this is where I stay every time I come back to X.
When I was sat in my car I fell asleep pretty much straight away. I was woken up by a few police officers and taken to the station for a breath test which was recorded at 61. The police said they charged me with ‘drunk in charge of vehicle’ but on my offence document it clearly states ‘drink driving section 5(1)(a)’ and that I ‘drove on a road’. This is incorrect, I didn’t leave the secure car park or move my car as I would’ve had to pay my parking fee so that the barrier would lift and that was paid after getting released.
My court date is x/x/2023 at 10:30am at Z Magistrates’ Court.
A
There seem to be quite a few issues here. The first is that, I agree it looks like they’ve charged you with the wrong offence.
MAY 2023 PHTM
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