Free Traffic Legal Advice

Update today.

Summons to Court in about two weeks’ time. Very little else in the letter. Case ref matches.

Any advice? Do I need a solicitor?

How should I prepare?

If you have pleaded NG to both charges and intend to do the "deal" mentioned earlier, you do not need a solicitor.

Arrive at the court in good time, ask to see the prosecutor for your case and make your offer. If you are unable to see the prosecutor before you are called into court, he first thing you will be asked after identifying yourself is whether you want to confirm your NG pleas. It is at this point you can make your offer.

Before the pandemic it was necessary to attend court to do this "deal" because it needs the agreement of the police prosecutor. During the pandemic courts made every effort to have as few  people as possible attend and they began doing this deal under the "Single Justice" procedure without the defendant's attendance. Some courts have carried this procedure on whilst others have reverted to a personal attendance being necessary. Yours is obviously among the later.

In trying to get the police prosecutor’s agreement should I mention that the NIP was not served correctly and that there is some evidence of a poor postal service to my address. Or again is it best to keep it simple and don’t give them more than what they need to know.

Just keep it simple. Make your offer. Only volunteer more information if you are asked and all you need to say then is that you did not received the NIP and request for driver's details.

What happens if they don’t do the deal? How do I prepare for that? A statement of facts and print off the Royal Mail claims email chain.

As far as I am aware here has only been one instance on here where the deal was not accepted. In that case the defendant was less than polite to the prosecutor, telling him what he could and couldn't do. So the prosecutor showed him.

In the unlikely event you do need to defend the "Fail to Provide details" charge it is unlikely that your trial will take place on that day. Instead it will probably be adjourned to a later date. However, if it does proceed on the same day all you can do is to take whatever evidence you have of earlier problems. I have to say that to cite one particular item going adrift does not seem to make a very convincing argument. I would imagine most people could do that. However, if that's all you have, that's all you have. 

If I am found guilty of both offences, then I believe, the points on my license would take me over the 12-point limit. Can I appeal after or is it best to set up mitigating circumstances on the day.

Unless you plead guilty to them both you cannot be convicted of both offences. You cannot be convicted of speeding because the police have no evidence that you were driving. If your offer is rejected and the police proceed with the Fail to Provide charge, the speeding charge will be dropped. In that event the worst that can happen is for you to be convicted of the Fail to Provide charge and that can only result in six points. Would that take you to twelve or more?

Yes, it is the worst case scenario and the outcome should not see you on twelve points.

If it does, you are able to avoid a ban if you can convince the court that you or others will suffer "exceptional hardship" if banned. The hardship must be over and above that which is likely to be suffered by any other driver subject to a ban.

Caught appearance happened to last week, stuck to the plan and all went as well as could be expected. Although they did put my speeding offence on a sliding scale and hence, I received 4 points instead of 3. As described above the court’s do not want to convict you of both. Still don’t fully understand why.

The overall financial penalty was several times more than the normal speeding ticket, so I have to thank the Royal Mail for that. My old dad says if it feels like you’ve been robbed, you probably have.


Thanks again for the advice it was very useful.
A donation has been made to a local homeless charity on behalf of FTLA.

Quote from: Speedygonzales on December 15, 2024, 07:59:20 pm

Below is a response to a DM I received and thought it would benefit all who have ended up in this situation.

And which bright spark sent you that?

I don't think anyobody sent him that, did they?

Isn't that his response to whatever he was sent?  Which could have been a simple "How did your court appearance go?"

OP's views sound a bit freemanesque to me...

She told me I needed to inform my insurance company of the outcome immediately as it may invalidate my insurance if I didn’t. (collusion between the corporate banks and the state?) She ended by reminding me that another 2 points and I would lose my license.

Since it's purely a commercial contractual term (bearing in mind some insurers don't even care for mid-policy points), what sort of state collusion are you thinking is involved?