25 in a 20 - Why a court summons and not a FPN?

[dibblecorse]

Hi

Firstly, yes it was me and secondly not trying to wriggle out of anything.

Back in March received a NIP, completed and returned it all in good time, then forgot about it.

Yesterday I received a Single Justice Procedure Notice asking for income details, NI number etc.

I currently have 0 points, last 3 points were c4 years ago.

Location of incident was Milbank so Met Police.

From some basic research appears to be a Band A offence in court with 3 points an c50% weekly income fine which seems harsh or am I missing something ?

Any insight greatly appreciated.

[anonymous-user]

Can’t help with question - sorry. Just curious: done by the gatsos on the central reservation or by a parked car/handheld cam? I used to see them parked up outside Millbank Tower way back when, but hadn’t seen that for a while pre lockdown.

[anonymous-user]

Maybe the NIP never reached its intended destination?

[quinny100]

I’m guessing they (think they) have previously sent a conditional offer of a fixed penalty and/or possibly an offer of a speed awareness course and had no response, so they’ve issued a SJPN.

I’d ring the ticket office - they may be willing to issue another CoFPN. If not I would plead guilty and in mitigation state you never received the option of a fixed penalty and would have accepted it had you had the opportunity. Hopefully the Mags will then give you the same fine and points as the fixed penalty, although you’ll probably get stiffed for victim surcharge on top of the fine.

The other possibility is it has taken them so long to process your NIP response that you are now deemed to be too close to the 6 month deadline for prosecution to offer you a fixed penalty and they’ve gone straight to the SJPN. I don’t know if the Met are having processing issues, perhaps due to COVID?

Edited by quinny100 on Monday 30th August 00:06

[agtlaw]

dibblecorse said:

Hi

Firstly, yes it was me and secondly not trying to wriggle out of anything.

Back in March received a NIP, completed and returned it all in good time, then forgot about it.

Yesterday I received a Single Justice Procedure Notice asking for income details, NI number etc.

I currently have 0 points, last 3 points were c4 years ago.

Location of incident was Milbank so Met Police.

From some basic research appears to be a Band A offence in court with 3 points an c50% weekly income fine which seems harsh or am I missing something ?

Any insight greatly appreciated.

The title of this thread is misleading as you have not received a Summons.

Single Justice Procedure means Single ‘Justice of the Peace’ Procedure. It ought to be called Single Magistrate Procedure - as that would be less confusing for the general public.

Your case is being dealt with by a Single Magistrate - without a traditional court hearing.

You may have received a witness statement. What does that say about the process? Otherwise, do not call the police but email to enquire why a conditional offer was not made.

A common situation is £100 fixed penalty paid but licence not submitted to the appropriate authority. In that circumstance, proceedings would be instituted and a SJPN would be issued.

If early guilty plea then Fine Band A means the most likely fine is N x 1/3 and the sentencing range is N x 1/6 to N x 1/2 - where N is net weekly income.

The maximum fine is £1k or £2.5k if a motorway offence.

The single magistrate may be persuaded to impose a fine equivalent to a fixed penalty. Especially if there were circumstances outside of your control. E.g. COFP not received.

Edited by agtlaw on Monday 30th August 09:41

[agtlaw]

Respond to the SJPN using the makeaplea website:

https://www.gov.uk/make-a-plea

In due course, pay the fine online:

https://www.gov.uk/pay-court-fine-online

[dibblecorse]

Thanks all, hadn't thought that maybe the FPN hadn't arrived, and in my defence i did sign / return the NIP in good time so not like I was trying to swerve.

@agtlaw, thanks for explaining what I actually have.

[Burwood]

agtlaw said:

dibblecorse said:

Hi

Firstly, yes it was me and secondly not trying to wriggle out of anything.

Back in March received a NIP, completed and returned it all in good time, then forgot about it.

Yesterday I received a Single Justice Procedure Notice asking for income details, NI number etc.

I currently have 0 points, last 3 points were c4 years ago.

Location of incident was Milbank so Met Police.

From some basic research appears to be a Band A offence in court with 3 points an c50% weekly income fine which seems harsh or am I missing something ?

Any insight greatly appreciated.

The title of this thread is misleading as you have not received a Summons.

Single Justice Procedure means Single ‘Justice of the Peace’ Procedure. It ought to be called Single Magistrate Procedure - as that would be less confusing for the general public.

Your case is being dealt with by a Single Magistrate - without a traditional court hearing.

You may have received a witness statement. What does that say about the process? Otherwise, do not call the police but email to enquire why a conditional offer was not made.

A common situation is £100 fixed penalty paid but licence not submitted to the appropriate authority. In that circumstance, proceedings would be instituted and a SJPN would be issued.

If early guilty plea then Fine Band A means the most likely fine is N x 1/3 and the sentencing range is N x 1/6 to N x 1/2 - where N is net weekly income.

The maximum fine is £1k or £2.5k if a motorway offence.

The single magistrate may be persuaded to impose a fine equivalent to a fixed penalty. Especially if there were circumstances outside of your control. E.g. COFP not received.

Edited by agtlaw on Monday 30th August 09:41

This Board is lucky to have your valuable input. Thanks

[Boosted LS1]

^ Seconded. Always very helpful and informative.