Free Traffic Legal Advice

 TLDR at end

Looking for some advice on a SJPN I received for a driving without due care an attention charge (CD10) which has a variable fine and points from 3-9 points and 100GBP to 5000GBP fine. I was not given any context on what my penalty will be if I plead guilty. I will give context/events from my side, context of what the officers witness statement is and extra info/what to do next at the end (Sorry if long, I have added TLDR at the very end). Any help with the matter is extremely appreciated.

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My side of the story:

Was driving on a 2 lane 70mph A road (about 900 metres long) around 10pm 3 weeks ago, driving fast enough to pass other vehicles on the road in the right lane (there was only about 4-8 cars on the left on about a 300-400 metre stretch of the road), took an exit where limit dropped to 50 and I dropped below the limit. The road split into 4 lanes; 2 to the left and 2 to a roundabout on the right, I took the 2 on the left which had large potholes across both which going the speed limit I swerved to avoid, after this I saw an officers lights which I was pulled over by and was then grilled for about 20 min on what happened etc.

He told me that I was going 100mph when passing the cars on the a road (which I actually didn't believe at the time but a friend who was in the car with me confirmed this later) and I asked him how he got this number and that I didn't believe him however I didn't know my speed at the time and reiterated this repeatedly. He told me he had bodycam footage of me speeding up away from him as he joined the a road (I was already on the a road but going the speed limit and only started speeding up after he joined however I did not see him which is true) and I asked if he had any other proof of my speed and he denied however I don't know at current time if his bodycam shows his speed matching mine when I was driving.

He also grilled me for swerving between lanes, I told him there was no other cars on the road and that there were large potholes I was attempting to avoid as I did not want to burst a tyre which he did agree to however he still told me I shouldn't be doing that.

Towards the end of the stop I asked him what charges will be and he told me that I will be charged with driving without due care and attention and will be sent a letter allowing to plead guilty or not guilty; he told me if I plead guilty I will get 3 points and a 100GBP fine otherwise if I choose to go to court my points and fine will increase if I am found guilty.

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The SJPN and the officers witness account:

footnotes of officers account of the SJPN which I got in the post yesterday in the order he wrote it:

He saw me when joining the A road and I began to speed away, he caught up to me and matched my speed for approx. 200 yards and maxed 100mph. I exited the road and whilst descending I was swerving between lanes 1 and 2 before straddling the white line. Whilst I was driving like this there were other road users present who I posed risk to. He pulled me over and challenged me on my driving, I 'initially denied my speed' then 'showed remorse and apologised'. I admitted that I was swerving between lanes before straddling the white line. Based on speed and swerving between lanes (officer) is convinced that my standard of driving is not of a careful and competent driver and that I posed risk to other road users so I am being reported for driving without due care and attention


I feel that the officers witness account is a twisted/misleadingly worded version of the events. I will include some of the reasons why below however apart from these reasons I agree with everything else he wrote:

    1. He mentioned that I was swerving which I agreed to but did not mention the potholes in the road which I swerved to avoid which he agreed to nor that I gave reasoning for this swerving on the road.

    2. Immediately after noting that I was swerving he also noted that there was other road users. Neither of which are untrue but they are independent of each other but when writing the 2 statements together this is not indicated. Instead it seems like I was swerving between/switching lanes whilst there was other road users on the road however at the time there were none, there was only a few cars which I passed in the left lane while on the right on the A road, none after exiting

    3. The officer wrote that he challenged my speed which I 'initially denied' and that I then 'showed remorse and apologised'. Again neither of these statements are wrong, I did initially deny my speed but I never admitted to it because at the time I truly did not know my speed at the time. This instead makes it sound like I at first said I didn't know my speed but then said sorry for speeding but instead I did apologise to the officer but for 'any inconvenience I have caused him during his night shift' not for my speed and at no point did I accept that I was speeding; of which he could not (at the time) produce any evidence to show to me.

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What to do next?:

Initially was just going to plead guilty; I am a young driver and my insurance will go up but I am working and can (hopefully) just tank the difference or get a cheaper car; I also believed because the officer told me I would just get 3 points and a 100GBP fine after pleading guilty. However after calling 6 solicitors/lawyers today (I only got through to 3) I was told by all of them that the officer does not have any say in my final penalty. Instead a judge will read the officers statement of witness and then will charge me as he sees fit. Due to this and the (as I have written above) places where I feel the officer has misleadingly worded the events which to 3rd parties make the offense seem worse than it is I am worried about more costly charges (points and fines) due to being a young person who will be moving out soon.


1 Solicitor told me to plead not guilty as they did not have 'concrete evidence' of my speed (the officer said he matched my speed and that may be shown on the bodycam; another thing at current time I am unsure of/want to know but can't without access to his bodycam footage) and say I was avoiding potholes when descending from the off ramp to 'maintain the state of my vehicle' which cannot be considered 'careless driving'. A legal advisor basically told me to plead guilty and good luck/hope for the best. Finally another solicitor told me to plead not guilty and ask for pleading guilty under different circumstances to what was written under the statement of witness and then give my side of events as this will give the judge my point of view. The same solicitor also told me that by giving me a SJPN without any previous action (such as a Notice of Intended Prosecution) there is a higher chance that they are trying to give me worse final penalties.

Honestly going to court seems a bit scary/a lot of effort. I understand I am in the wrong but what advice on what to do next. I am now (after speaking to solicitors as mentioned above) leaning towards pleading not guilty but help and/or advice is very much appreciated.

I would also like to request bodycam footage/evidence of the event but am unsure how, do I just ring the courts (I tried today but it was too late and just got booted from a queue at 5pm)? I understand that this is not required to be given to me until I plead not guilty and even if they choose to give it to me it may arrive after the deadline for making my plea but it would be extremely helpful for my final decision.

again help and advice for my situation is much appreciated.

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TLDR:

was caught by an officer for speeding & swerving between lanes. got an SJPN and was going to sign guilty however speaking to solicitors makes me think I may get shafted due to some of the officers wording in certain parts of his witness statement (parts where I disagree with him can be found above in the 'officers witness account' section of this post) which give me an unfavourable light/point of view and I am worried this will lead to a heavier sentence from a judge if I choose to plead guilty (accept what the officer said as true) so wanted advice on what to do next, thanks.

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Final Questions:
Should I plead guilty or not guilty, If I plead not guilty under what circumstances, How can I request bodycam footage (what is the likelihood that I get it before my plea deadline; 18 days from now)?

To convict you of the offence of speeding, the opinion of a single witness is not sufficient, it has to be corroborated - for example by performing a follow check. Measuring your speed through a follow check, or measuring his own speed whilst you are pulling away from him (meaning that your speed must have been greater than his) can suffice.

However, you have not been charged with speeding - either because there is a question mark over whether the evidence is sufficient for that offence, or because careless is a more appropriate charge - so the above appears to be about as relevant as the advice given by some of the professionals you spoke to. As a general rule of thumb, short of dangerous driving (and even in some cases where dangerous might be the more appropriate charge), the police will go for speeding if the evidence supports it because it is easiest to prove.

As an aggravating factor for careless driving, the only question regarding evidence of speed (ignoring questions of overarching admissibility under s. 20 RTA 1988 if a device of a type prescribed is not approved) is weight - having potentially heard evidence from both sides, which version do they prefer.

Do you have evidence that there were potholes there, other than your own testimony? When you were cautioned at the side of the road, and told that failure to mention anything that you subsequently rely on may harm your defence, did you explain that you were swerving to avoid the potholes? Were the other cars also swerving to avoid the potholes, or were they just ploughing through them?

If you wish to admit the offence, but dispute the alleged facts you can enter what is known as a Newton plea. The court would then have to accept your version, or hold a Newton hearing - essentially the same as a trial, but solely to establish the facts that are material to the seriousness of the offence, and the sentence.

If you do not object to a witness statement, you cannot subsequently challenge its veracity, although you can still comment on it and point out any self-evident flaws. I would say that the court has no right to read more into the statement than what it actually says, but I would be wary of relying on them not reading between the lines. That said, if this goes to trial, I would expect the occifer to attend to give evidence in person - at which point he is gioving his evidence, not the witness statement. Tactically, objecting to the statement would mean that there was no evidence if the occifer failed to turn up (unless the case was adjourned to enable him to do so).

The dashcam evidence is unlikely to be needed to convict you, but might help your case if the occifer's recollection was clouded.