Missed court & warrent
Discussion
In April I attended court after I was charged being on the phone and when I arrived the policeman put me in the wrong room which was full of traffic police where i sat for 3 hours until I went out and asked the healer chap who gave me into trouble and came back and told me i missed my appearance.
The allowed my case to be reheard and i was asked did I plead guilty or non guilty and at the time I thought that I would give my reason and be given the yes no verdict but instead I was sent home with a new date.
TBH I was a little freaked out about the first mix up and asked at the reception and the chap told me I would get a notification on the new date.
Today I decided to call as I thought it was taking its time and I got told the case was 2 weeks ago and I have a warrant out for my arrest!
They suggested I write in and ask for an invite which I will do today but is it possible to also change my plea to guilty in the letter? I really don't fancy another day in that court!
The allowed my case to be reheard and i was asked did I plead guilty or non guilty and at the time I thought that I would give my reason and be given the yes no verdict but instead I was sent home with a new date.
TBH I was a little freaked out about the first mix up and asked at the reception and the chap told me I would get a notification on the new date.
Today I decided to call as I thought it was taking its time and I got told the case was 2 weeks ago and I have a warrant out for my arrest!
They suggested I write in and ask for an invite which I will do today but is it possible to also change my plea to guilty in the letter? I really don't fancy another day in that court!
uber said:
Mk3Spitfire said:
But surely you are innocent? Otherwise you wouldn't have opted for court in the first place?!
I was using the phone satnav !Even just holding a phone but not using it could see you found guilty.
Good luck anyway.
uber said:
I take it you are winding me up as I have no points!
Discretionary disqualification is an option.https://www.gov.uk/highway-code-penalties/penalty-...
ED209 said:
i suspect he is about to be disqualified, thats why the warrant has been issued. You cannot be disqualified in your absence.
That's not quite the case (although I don't believe Mags like to do so).Mags Sentencing Guidelines said:
Disqualification in the offender’s absence
23. When considering disqualification in absence the starting point should be that disqualification in absence should be imposed if there is no reason to believe the defendant is not aware of the proceedings,and after the statutory notice has been served pursuant to section 11(4) of the 1980 Act where appropriate. Disqualification should not be imposed in absence where there is evidence that the defendant has an acceptable reason for not attending or where there are reasons to believe it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.
23. When considering disqualification in absence the starting point should be that disqualification in absence should be imposed if there is no reason to believe the defendant is not aware of the proceedings,and after the statutory notice has been served pursuant to section 11(4) of the 1980 Act where appropriate. Disqualification should not be imposed in absence where there is evidence that the defendant has an acceptable reason for not attending or where there are reasons to believe it would be contrary to the interests of justice to do so.
uber said:
ED209 said:
i suspect he is about to be disqualified, thats why the warrant has been issued. You cannot be disqualified in your absence.
I take it you are winding me up as I have no points!CU80 is only a three pointer, but if they upgraded it to careless, or if there's something else on there, that's easily your six points before going back to provisional.
tenpenceshort said:
ED209 said:
i suspect he is about to be disqualified, thats why the warrant has been issued. You cannot be disqualified in your absence.
That's not quite the case (although I don't believe Mags like to do so).uber said:
In April I attended court after I was charged being on the phone and when I arrived the policeman put me in the wrong room which was full of traffic police where i sat for 3 hours until I went out and asked the healer chap who gave me into trouble and came back and told me i missed my appearance.
The allowed my case to be reheard and i was asked did I plead guilty or non guilty and at the time I thought that I would give my reason and be given the yes no verdict but instead I was sent home with a new date.
TBH I was a little freaked out about the first mix up and asked at the reception and the chap told me I would get a notification on the new date.
Today I decided to call as I thought it was taking its time and I got told the case was 2 weeks ago and I have a warrant out for my arrest!
They suggested I write in and ask for an invite which I will do today but is it possible to also change my plea to guilty in the letter? I really don't fancy another day in that court!
1. Ignore 99% of the well intentioned advice on this forum. Some of it is simply wrong.The allowed my case to be reheard and i was asked did I plead guilty or non guilty and at the time I thought that I would give my reason and be given the yes no verdict but instead I was sent home with a new date.
TBH I was a little freaked out about the first mix up and asked at the reception and the chap told me I would get a notification on the new date.
Today I decided to call as I thought it was taking its time and I got told the case was 2 weeks ago and I have a warrant out for my arrest!
They suggested I write in and ask for an invite which I will do today but is it possible to also change my plea to guilty in the letter? I really don't fancy another day in that court!
2. Find out if the warrant is 'with bail' or without bail'. It's more likely that it's with bail. In the circumstances, you could simply attend your local police station, be arrested at the front desk, be given your next hearing date and leave. If the warrant is without bail then the position isn't so good. If that's the case then you should attend the police station nearest to the court building at 8 a.m. You will be arrested, put in a cell and taken to court in custody. Court proceedings typically start at 10 a.m. Do not attend later than 8 a.m. as you risk being held at the police station all day and potentially overnight.
You will be produced in court and asked about a new offence - failure to attend court. You will also be asked about the index offence - do you maintain your NG plea? If so, then the case will be adjourned and the court would have to consider whether or not to grant bail in the interim. If you plead guilty then the court will very likely sentence you immediately, the case concludes and bail isn't a consideration.
3. If the warrant is without bail then you may consider whether you remain at the address known to the police - they could attend at any time day or night. N.b. far better to hand yourself in than be arrested at home.
ETA - the aforementioned applies to England & Wales. If it's Scotland then ignore this.
Edited by agtlaw on Tuesday 22 July 19:01
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