Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi Andy,

Thank you so much for your very detailed and helpful response.

I used DPD because I was approaching the 28-day deadline to respond to the request for driver information and I mistakenly believed a courier service like DPD would be faster and more reliable than standard Royal Mail to ensure timely delivery.

I only tracked the package after receiving the SJPN last week. The DPD tracking shows a photograph of where it was delivered, the name of the person who received it, and a note stating it was "delivered to neighbour."

You asked if I was surprised not to receive anything before the SJPN. In all honesty, yes, I should have checked why I hadn't received confirmation or further correspondence, but I didn't. This is my first-ever offence and my first time dealing with any kind of penalty or legal matter, so I've been quite naive about the process. I completely agree that I should have been more diligent.

Based on your analysis, it seems the core question for a 'not guilty' plea would be whether my failure to check the DPD tracking and send a follow-up response, even after the deadline, was not reasonably practicable. Given that I only discovered the non-delivery after the SJPN arrived, I'm concerned about successfully arguing this defence

To be clear, the SJPN only lists the failure to provide driver information (s. 172 offence). The speeding offence is NOT listed.

My biggest fear is that if I plead not guilty and attempt to argue the s. 172 defence, the court will then become aware that at the time of the original speeding offence, I was driving illegally (I had been in the UK for over 12 months, and my Indian licence was no longer valid for driving here). Would arguing the s. 172 offence risk having the illegal driving come back to bite me with a separate charge, even though only the s. 172 is currently on the SJPN?

If pleading guilty is the easiest option to contain the damage and avoid raising the issue of my licence status, I'm inclined to do that. Approximately how much would the fine be for a guilty plea for the s. 172 offence

Thank you for your valuable input