Free Traffic Legal Advice
Live cases legal advice => Speeding and other criminal offences => Topic started by: Sammyymmas on September 07, 2024, 01:32:18 pm
-
You could also ask the court to consider sentencing you at the level equivalent to the fixed penalty (£100 and 3 points). Magistrates have guidance that suggests they should consider this in circumstances unconnected with the offence itself, such as administrative difficulties.
Thanks for that. In this sentencing request, do I have any chance of getting a speed awareness course instead of the 3 points? Or is there a chance this would jeopardise the deal?
No. The courts do not have that option.
-
Thanks for that. In this sentencing request, do I have any chance of getting a speed awareness course instead of the 3 points?
No. The court has no powers to order a course.
-
You could also ask the court to consider sentencing you at the level equivalent to the fixed penalty (£100 and 3 points). Magistrates have guidance that suggests they should consider this in circumstances unconnected with the offence itself, such as administrative difficulties.
Thanks for that. In this sentencing request, do I have any chance of getting a speed awareness course instead of the 3 points? Or is there a chance this would jeopardise the deal?
-
I posted this on Reddit and was guided to this forum, with mention of pleading not guilty to both charges, then completing a deal with a prosecutor.
Yes that's the correct strategy.
Respond to the SJPN by pleading not guilty to both offences. In the "reasons for pleading not guilty" section say you responded to the request for driver's details but still received nothing from the police. Go on to say you are willing to plead guilty to the speeding offence on the condition that the "failure to provide driver's details" charge is dropped. This is a common procedure which is well known to all court users (magistrates, their legal advisors and lawyers).
Before the pandemic it was necessary to attend court to negotiate this "deal". When the pandemic hit courts were obviously keen to avoid as many personal attendances as possible and arrangements were made for this deal to be accepted without a court attendance. Many courts have continued with this process so if you make your intentions clear in response to the SJPN you may be saved a trip.
You could also ask the court to consider sentencing you at the level equivalent to the fixed penalty (£100 and 3 points). Magistrates have guidance that suggests they should consider this in circumstances unconnected with the offence itself, such as administrative difficulties.
-
In march I got caught speeding, 37 in a 30. I received the form to notify the police who was driving the car, filled it out and requested a speed awareness course as I was eligible.
A few weeks go by, I get a letter saying they didn’t receive anything, warning me to respond before it’s taken further. In this letter, it also mentioned to ignore it if I recently sent them the form. Just to be safe, I filled it out and had it posted again.
6 months later, I’ve forgotten about it, haven’t heard anything since the last letter and I receive a single justice procedure notice, with 2 charges. The original speeding offence, as well as a failure to provide information relating to the driver.
I’ve had a look for evidence that I did send the letter as I intend to plead not guilty to the failure to provide information charge. Here’s where I need some advice.
At the time, I worked from home, I filled out the form and asked my mum to drop it off on her way to work. (There’s a post box outside her office) I asked her if she had any evidence of this. Turns out, she asked one of her colleagues to do it for her, and notified her that it was important. Luckily for me, This colleague then took a video of her dropping it into a postbox, with an exact date and time, and is willing to write a statement to corroborate this.
As for the second form, this was sent by my mum herself and she doesn’t have any evidence like the first instance.
The crux of the issue is, I didn’t send either of these forms myself. Is this something that would inadvertently incriminate myself? Is it solely my responsibility to make sure these letters were sent? Could I be found guilty because I didn’t send them myself?
(In England)
Thanks in advance
—-
I posted this on Reddit and was guided to this forum, with mention of pleading not guilty to both charges, then completing a deal with a prosecutor. I’ve looked for similar posts but can’t find any guidance on this approach. Can anyone give me some pointers or even link me to some relevant posts that go through this?
Thanks again