Free Traffic Legal Advice

Today I recieved a Single Justice Procedure Notice for a speeding fine where I was driving 47mph in a 40mph limit on 27/07/2024. 

- I received a notice of intended prosecution dated in August 2024 for which I responded stating I was the driver at the time and included my drivers licence

- on 04/09/24 I received the fixed penalty notice. I paid the notice on 12/09/24, I am SURE around the same time I sent the paperwork back but cannot remember the exact date.
 
 - today I received a SJPN - I haven’t received anything to indicate that they didn’t receive my licence details (despite having this information already in the NIP) and their statement states that a refund was requested for the fine. I haven’t requested a refund nor have I recieved one.

The statement from met police states:

“A Conditional offer of Fixed Penalty was sent to MISS xxx xxxxxx on 04/09/2024.
The driver / rider failed to satisfy the requirements of the Fixed Penalty, the Fixed Penalty was paid but they failed to provide their licence details for electronic endorsement and a refund was requested.
The driver / rider did not satisfy the requirements of the Fixed Penalty offer within the specified timeframe. As a result, the offer of a Fixed Penalty has been withdrawn.
The matter was therefore referred to the Prosecution Team for a Single Justice Notice to be issued.”

Any advice would be appreciated- the charge sheet is just for the speeding offence so assuming I should plea guilty but shouldn’t I have been informed prior to this that they haven’t received anything and nothing else alerted me to this.

Not sure if this counts as extenuating circumstances but I am diagnosed with ADHD I’ve also been experiencing ill health since end of September- recurring  viruses and chest infections and chronic fatigue resulting in extended periods off of work which may be the reason why I didn’t think to follow up after sending my paperwork.

Not sure how much of this I should include in my statement?

The offence that you have been charged with is speeding, not failing to comply with the requirements of the COFP.

They received your s. 172 response admitting to being the driver, which enabled them to issue a COFP (not an FPN).

You were offered an out of court disposal, which they claim you did not comply with the requirements to accept. If you could prove that you complied, then the prosecution would be unlawful, but being fairly sure that you sent it with nothing to support your vague recollection isn't going to cut it.

As regards your guilt or otherwise of the alleged speeding offence, an unaccepted out of court disposal offer is neither here nor there. Assuming that you have no viable defence, the relevance of the COFP is that the Mags' sentencing guidance says to consider sentencing equivalent to the fixed penalty level where a fixed penalty could not be accepted for reasons unconnected with the offence - so broadly if a fixed penalty would normally have been offered.

It will be entirely within the gift of the court to decide either that it's your own fault for not reading the form properly and sentence you in line with the general guidance, or that the absurd number of such cases coming before them is due to an unduly convoluted process and/or poorly designed form and sentence you equivalently to the fixed penalty. If you ask them to consider doing so.

Evidence of a diagnosed mental illness which contributed to the failure to comply with the requirements might reduce the chances of the bench deciding that it's all your own fault. However, with any mitigation concerning diminished capacity (mental or physical), it is prudent to consider whether the bench might question whether or not you ought to be driving at all. The fact that you have been diagnosed by a doctor who (presumably) has not decided that your condition is reportable to the DVLA, would suggest that this ought not to be a major issue in your case.