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with. It’s called an ‘abuse of process’. We would argue that you have been denied the opportunity to defend yourself because key evidence against you has been tampered with and therefore you cannot have a fair trial. However, it is risky because if we go down that route and we lose, we are significantly increasing our chances of a longer ban/community order. It is a very technical argument and we risk antagonising the courts if we lose.
Ultimately I would like to see the evidence against you so we know what option to go with. We need to very carefully consider your plea and select the correct route. Based on what you have said, it sounds like this wasn’t initially your fault but the manner in which you cut him up was probably not the most sensible. And so we may be best off going down the second route and trying to persuade the court and prosecution that this was only careless and not dangerous driving.
My fiancee and I recently moved house but she didn’t update the V5C (log book) for the new car. Yesterday she received a single justice procedure letter about two offences – both speeding (38mph in a 30mph) and failure to notify of who was driving. No letters have been received at the new house and the timeframe for the speeding tickets was before she updated her address everywhere, so will have gone to our old address and hasn’t been forwarded on. What is the best course of action?
Q A
She can either defend or agree a ‘basis of plea’.
Usually, these offences are charged in the
alternative, meaning that if she pleads guilty to one they will withdraw the other. In this case, speeding would carry 3 points and failing to provide driver information 6 points, so if she goes down this route she’s better off pleading guilty to speeding and in return, agreeing a deal whereby the prosecution withdraw failing to provide driver information. Four out of five times the prosecution are happy to agree. If they do, then we should be able to get her 3 points and a fine without her having to attend a hearing. I would hope to keep the fines and costs down to about £300 or £400 in total.
The second option would be to defend them both. PHTM OCTOBER 2024
Here, the speeding offence should be withdrawn. The prosecution are likely to have no identification evidence confirming she was driving so convicting her of speeding would be very difficult, if not impossible.
However, it would leave failing to give information open and that would proceed to a trial in the Magistrates’ Court.
The defence we would have to put forward to failing to give information is that quite simply, she did not receive it. It’s a defence under s.172(7)(b) Road Traffic Act 1988. However, we have to go into a little more detail than that.
If the reason she didn’t receive it is her fault, for example if she moved but never updated the log book, then the court will find that it was her fault she failed to give information and will find her guilty. So we have to go one step further and explain that she had a forwarding system in place that for whatever reason failed, or that it was never delivered at the old address at all. If we are going to defend it, I suggest we need evidence from the new tenants of the old property to confirm that it never arrived, evidence of the redirect and I would suggest you give evidence in support.
If we can get all of this evidence together, it will strengthen our case and we may be best placed pleading not guilty and defending it. If we win, we can avoid points and fines altogether.
If, however, for whatever reason we cannot get that evidence together, it will weaken our case. If she is found guilty she would then get 6 points and fines/costs of closer to £2,000, which is of course a lot higher than the speeding matter! So if we can’t get good evidence together, she may be best off going down the first route and agreeing the basis with the prosecution.
For advice on motoring matters, email
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