Free Traffic Legal Advice
Live cases legal advice => Speeding and other criminal offences => Topic started by: Natedog on May 22, 2026, 07:49:54 am
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No I didn’t make a copy. I’m really kicking myself now to be honest. I think I just rushed to get it posted back asap.
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Did you at least keep a copy of your reply?
I know that on it's own it isn't conclusive proof that you sent it back, but if it shows your signature and the date on it then it's another piece of evidence tending to show that you sent the form back in good faith.
Why complete and sign the form and take a copy of it if you weren't sending it back?
(I know it could be argued that you took a copy and then binned it and that you were taking the risk that the police would somehow miss the failure to identify and wouldn't prosecute you, but i think you'd have to be remarkably stupid and dishonest to run that risk. Mind you there seem to be a lot of remarkably stupid and dishonest people out there...)
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Yes, that is how I see it also.
Do you have any other tips that I could use to help defend my position please? I find it unfair that this has happened when I have followed the steps correctly.
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S. 172 requires you to provide the information to the police. Merely posting does not in and of itself satisfy the requirement - it must be delivered.
The prosecution would need to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the information was not delivered. You would then seek to rely on the defence that it was not reasonably practicable to provide the information, as you had already sent it off in good faith, and had no reason to believe that it had not been delivered.
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Ok, I understand.
But as I believe, the prosecution have to prove my guilt beyond reasonable doubt? So in my mind, having this contemporaneous text message, will make it very difficult for the prosecution to prove I am not telling the truth.
This is not a mistake on my part, I am not claiming I sent it late or forgot to send it etc. I genuinely sent the letter back with the relevant details on it.
As I am not used to how these things work, I naively thought that if they didn’t receive my reply by the 28 days given, they would have notified me of not receiving a response. In that case, I would have still had time to gather the cctv of me posting the letter to prove my innocence.
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Is this evidence good enough to prove to the magistrates that I sent the letter in good faith?
Only the magistrates can answer that. It depends on how credible they find you as a witness - whether thry think it is more likely than not that you are telling the truth.
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Hi, I’m looking for some help with my case.
I received a s.172 letter asking for the drivers details of my vehicle, as they were seen holding their phone at a red traffic light.
I received the letter on the Friday and I replied and sent back the details of the driver on the Monday. This was the end of October 2025.
I have just received a SJPN with a single charge of failing to provide the details of the driver. That is the only charge. The mobile phone charge is not on the paperwork.
Am I right in thinking I have to plead not guilty as I did send off the paperwork? Annoyingly I didn’t get proof of postage.
I’ve tried to ask the local shops near the postbox if they have cctv of me posting the letter, but it was too long ago.
The only kind of proof I have, is I sent a text to my partner on the day I posted the letter which read…‘I'm going to send off this letter today now and just admit this phone thing and just accept it and move on.
No point trying to wriggle out of it, the sooner I accept the better.’
Is this evidence good enough to prove to the magistrates that I sent the letter in good faith?
Any thoughts regarding this and my next steps would be much appreciated. Thanks.