KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
he saw ‘what looked like a phone’ in my hand. He says he couldn’t see what I was doing with it. There is no evidence. Surely that is not enough and I’ve got good grounds to defend this?
Outcome: This was a very interesting case, as again it highlights exactly why you ought to take legal advice at an early stage of the proceedings.
Answer: Unfortunately not. Once you accept a fixed penalty, whether intentionally or not, that is the end of the matter and there is no automatic legal process to get it reopened. So you are stuck with the points I am afraid.
Outcome: Obviously, this person didn’t instruct us as there was nothing we could do, but this is a question that we get asked regularly. When a minor speeding offence is committed, as long as the driver hasn’t done a course in the last three years and it’s within the speed threshold, they should be offered the chance to do a speed awareness course.
However, that offer comes on the same letter as the offer of a fixed penalty of 3 points and a £100 fine. The driver has to accept one or the other. But if you select the wrong option, it’s too late. So, it is imperative that prior to accepting anything and giving the police any money, you are absolutely certain what you are paying for and what you are agreeing to do.
Case 3
Question: I have a charge for using a phone whilst driving. I was not pulled over, I only heard about this when I got a letter a few days after. I responded to admit I was driving and then I was offered 6 points instead of court, but I have 6 points already so the police told me I couldn’t accept that.
So now they’ve sent me a court letter. I have the paperwork and the witness statement if you would like me to send it. It has the police statement with it. There’s just one police officer at traffic lights who says
PHTM OCTOBER 2025
This person had received a Notice of Intended Prosecution a few days after allegedly being seen by the officer. He responded nominating himself as the driver, and was then offered a fixed penalty of 6 points and a £200 fine. He tried to accept the offer, but at the time of the offence he had 6 points on his licence already, so he was at risk of being banned for 6 months for ‘totting’ 12 points within 3 years. The police therefore ‘rejected’ his acceptance and wrote to him to tell him that he was going to end up in court for the Magistrates to consider banning him from driving.
In response, he wrote to them to apologise for using his phone. He explained that he was just reading a text message from his sick mother and he asked if he could do a course instead. The police refused.
When the case got to court, whilst we advised him that we agreed the officer didn’t actually see him use the phone at all, and he would have had a good case, he had made a full written admission apologising for using his phone whilst he was driving.
Anything you say can be used against you in evidence. And in this case the police were relying on that admission as proof that he was using his phone. So he ended up pleading guilty.
It worked out well in the end because with our help, we managed to persuade the court that a disqualification would cause exceptional hardship, and so they didn’t ban him. However, had he not made that written admission to the police, there may well have been no evidence against him and he could have been walking away with no points at all.
If you need any advice on motoring matters, please email
advice@pattersonlaw.co.uk or call us on 01626 359800 for free legal advice.
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