Free Traffic Legal Advice

Is there anything I can do?

No.

If you take the matter to court, the law says that a minimum of six points must be imposed unless the court finds there are “Special Reasons not to Endorse or Disqualify”. Cover running out the previous night would not qualify as a Special Reason.

You could give it  ago, but it will almost certainly fail, and the cost to you will be very much greater than £300 (although the court is unlikely to impose more than six points).

One of the reasons why Andy may be a little sceptical is because the offence does not attract a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN). If the police think a fixed penalty is appropriate they will make a “Conditional Offer of a Fixed Penalty" (COFP). This is not semantics. Both exist but the two are completely different animals.

If you have not received a COFP yet I think it is more likely that the police will move straight to court proceedings, especially as you mention it is now “many weeks” since the date of the offence. You have also declined to take up the offer of a course and have given them indications that you refute the allegation.

…the police department has been extremely unhelpful in communicating with me and seem unwilling to review the case with the evidence I provided…

The police do not usually review evidence when they have made either a course or fixed penalty offer. They have already made the decision that they will take enforcement action. The idea of both of those is that the driver accepts the allegation as it stands and opts to take up the offer – which is considerably less expensive than any penalty a court may impose. So it’s unsurprising that they have failed to engage with you. The police leave any evidence of a defence to be tested in court.

….but will likely request the court hearing to sort this out.

The court hearing (or perhaps two) will indeed “sort this out”. But it will take the form of a trial, The police will present their evidence (which you will be provided with before you enter your plea) and you can present yours. The police evidence will probably consist of statements from the officers. If you disagree with their contents, you must ask for the officers to attend court and you will be able to cross-examine them. The court will then reach a verdict.

Before the trial you will be asked to state the reason why you are pleading not guilty and there may be an opportunity then to get he prosecutor to view your evidence, review the decision to prosecute and perhaps discontinue.

But if that does not happen you should be under no illusion – if this goes to court, unless you plead guilty, the only way it will be resolved is by way of a criminal trial. You should also be aware of the likely outcome should you be convicted. You will face a fine of at least half a week’s net income and a surcharge of 40% of that fine. You will also be ordered to pay prosecution costs of around £650. So, no change out of £1,000 for most people and possibly more, depending on your income. You will also see an endorsement and at least three points imposed on your driving record.

What was the date of the alleged offence?

No, there is not a maximum time, but over two months seems a bit excessive. Might be an idea to contact the court to ensure your response was received.

Did you plead guilty, or not guilty?

You can only respond as Andy suggests by making sure you provide all the information you have about the person to whom you sold the vehicle. The police will almost certainly prosecute you. Your defence will be that you were not the person keeping the vehicle and that you have provided all the information which is in your power to give which may lead to identification of the driver.

Yes they would receive information from the DVLA the date of disposal and who the current registered keeper is if the DVLA have issued a V5C.

I don't think the police will bother with any of that.

Did you drive at all on that day past the site of the alleged offence? If so, at what time?

Do I just take the L and pay the fine (£660 !!) or do I dispute this?

Certainly not! You must dispute it.

You have it in writing that if you plead guilty to one charge and not guilty to the other, the one to which you have pleaded not guilty will be withdrawn.

If you responded as you say you did, even ignoring “the offences being laid in the alternative”, you should not have been convicted without facing a trial, for which you would have to attend in person.

Did you keep a copy of your response?

You need to contact the court to find out why you have been convicted of the offence to which you pleaded not guilty, when you had the firm understanding that it would be discontinued.

There are two aspects to this.

First of all, you were convicted by a court under proceedings of which you were not aware. The normal way to deal with this is to make a “Statutory Declaration” to that effect. The conviction and all the penalties that went with it are expunged and the charge(s) will be put to you again.

In your circumstances, provided you were the driver at the time of the speeding allegation, you can ask the prosecutor to drop the “Fail to Provide Details” (FtP) charge if you plead guilty to speeding. This is usually accepted and - provided your speed was not particularly excessive - you will finish up with a much less serious conviction (with a lower impact on any future insurance premiums), fewer points and a lower fine.

The other issue is the level of the fine. Firs of all, the speeding charge is a dead duck as they have no proof that you were driving. The FtP offence attracts a fine of 1.5 times your net weekly income. Since the court had no details of your income, they would have used a default figure of £440pw. As well as that you will be charged a “victim surcharge” of 40% and prosecution costs. So you would have been fined £660, a surcharge of £264 and £90 costs which equals £1,014.

If you want to go through that process it is unlikely that you will be able to do so without attending court. But it’s worth a try.

If you simply want to challenge the level of the fine, the normal way to do that is to ask to to have your case reopened under s142 of the Magistrates’ Court Act. That section is designed principally to allow mistakes to to be rectified. But if the court had no details of your income, they would have proceeded perfectly properly in imposing a £660 fine, so I doubt a request to reopen would be successful. In any case, it would only be beneficial to you if your weekly income is less than £440. If it is more, you could find the fine increased.

I cannot progress through the process you have provided a link to because I do not have a valid URN, so I don’t know how it works. But I would imagine, depending on your responses, it will guide you to one or other of the two processes I described.

If you’re not bothered about the conviction, the points and a “totting up” disqualification (as well as the impact all that will have on any future insurance premiums) then there’s really no point in doing much at all.