Free Traffic Legal Advice

I’ve spoken to a couple of solicitors but would be interested to get the thoughts of any experts on here with advice on how to proceed with this before I act.

I disagree with most of what the first one said, and about half of what the second one said.

You've received professional legal advice (twice) and presumably want to see if the professionals have missed anything.
Logically, you could either tell us what advice you were given, or we could waste our time telling you what you've already been told. One requires more effort from you, the other requires more effort from us.

I can’t be 100% sure which location the NIP I received referred to - I just know 100% that it was for a speed of 69. Had it been a speed of 88 I would have sought legal advice before returning it.

The witness statement from the camera operator says- At 16:51hrs on 08/10/23 I was on duty at A64 Whitwell Hill engaged in the enforcement of the speed limit when a (van details) motor vehicle displaying the registration number xxxxxx caused me to formulate the opinion that it was travelling at a speed in excess of the speed limit. I activated a type approved laser device in order to corroborate and confirm my opinion.

The vehicle was recorded at 88mph. The limit for this vehicle on this road is 60mph.

I can confirm that the device used at that time was a LTI 20.20 (Ultralyte 1000) laser speed measuring device and the Lastec Concept 2 compact flash system used which is a combined prescribed device, type approved by the Secretary of State. I am a trained operator of this device and operated it in accordance with the type approval given to it and to the best of my knowledge and belief all conditions subject to which that approval were given were satisfied.

The approved device records images and information of the offence on a compact flash card. The information contained on that flash card is then imported, validated and verified within the Startraq back office programme. I produce a copy of a record from this system which relates to the vehicle above as exhibit TB1 which consists of 2 images.

From records held within the traffic bureau I can confirm that a notice of intended prosecution/section 172 (NIP/172) request for driver details was sent to the last known address of the registered keeper as held by the driver and vehicle licensing agency and obtained from the police national computer system of motor vehicle xxxxxx on 09/10/23 by first class post.

On 17/10/23 a signed response was received to a section 172 request for driver details confirming that (my details) was the driver at the time of the alleged offence.

Due to the alleged high speed (driver) was not eligible for a speed awareness course or a conditional offer of a fixed penalty hence the need to prepare a file for court purposes.

As you have already told us, you do not have the original NIPs or copies thereof - so you are relying on your memory. Is there a copy of the NIP in the SJPN bundle?
What exactly does the witness statement say?

The opinions of the 2 solicitors can be described as follows -
1. We would like you to pay us to defend you.
2. Your account is too vague to base a defence on, kindly go away.

Which camera location did you get the speeding NIP from and which camera location was the seat belt NIP from?

Thanks for your replies. With regards to the solicitors advice, I am of the same opinion. Which is why I’m still looking for other opinions on the case and to see what others suggest in this situation.

My understanding is that without a NIP the police can’t prosecute.

If you intend to defend the charge on the basis that no NIP was provided at all, you would have to disclose that before your trial. The police would no doubt be able to produce a copy beforehand. You cannot “ambush” the prosecution with a previously undisclosed defence.

Unless you argue that the NIP is so deficient that it does not meet the requirements of the law (Section 1 of the Road Traffic Offenders’ Act) the NIP (which alas you no longer have sight of) will not play any part in your prosecution.

The law says that it must provide you with “…the nature of the alleged offence and the time and place where it is alleged to have been committed,…”. The nature of the alleged offence is exceeding the speed limit, so there is no wriggle room there. The location ambiguity might help you.

The witness statement seems quite clear in that it provides evidence of your vehicle travelling at 88mph. I think the route to defend this would be either on the deficiency of the NIP (in not sufficiently conveying to you the place the alleged offence took place) or by casting doubt on the operator’s evidence.  How far apart are the two locations you mention? Do you suspect you may have been doing 88mph at one or other of them?

The locations are about 5 mins apart.

If NIPs were only *issued* for a single speeding (69mph) and a separate seat belt offence, and the OP has already completed a course offered as an alternative disposal, despite the fact that I keep banging SACs having no basis in law, IMHO it would be an abuse of process to prosecute contrary to the promise not to - and one which resulted in the OP "changing his position" (paying for and taking the course), as opposed to simply thinking "phew, got away with that one".

Usual caveats - we are relying on the OP's memory, and the OP would potentially need to be able to prove that he was offered and completed a course as an alternative disposal for that offence.

To challenge the veracity of the witness statement, it will need to be objected to/the purported author required to attend.
I can't say that I had ever seen a witness statement in which the  camera operator purported to give evidence regarding the NIP/s 172 - although I have seen some from camera operators that the camera operator never wrote or even read.

I don’t see how taking a seat belt course can have any bearing on a speeding offence.