Speeding & progressing to magistrates court
Speeding & progressing to magistrates court
Author
Discussion

24valve

Original Poster:

97 posts

239 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2020
quotequote all
Hi,

I wonder if anyone can help with what will happen next. Unfortunately, on the 10th March this year, I was sent a notice of intended prosecution for speeding (81 in a 70). It was sent to my company first, and my gaffer ticked the box that said I wanted to do a driver awareness course (at the time I had three points on my licence).

I filled in the form and sent it back and they confirmed I could do the speed awareness course and sent a link to book it through ndors.org.uk. This though was at the start of the lockdown, I tried to book the course a few times, but as was then normal, no training could have taken place. I emailed ndors.org.uk a few times, along with hampshire police and they said they would get in touch when courses were running again.

However, at the same time, I thought I needed to pay the speeding fine, so paid the £100 quid online and didnt think too much off it. Clearly, I misread the paperwork because I had always thought that whether you had the points or the course, you still had to pay the fine. In fact I am sure this used to be the case years ago.

This has reared its head because at the weekend I received a letter from Hampshire police saying it has been referred to magistrates court hearing because I hadn't sent my driving licence in (I didn't receive a letter saying I had to and the original letter said I dont need to send in my licence if I was doing the course), and that I now need to go online to makeaplea.justice.gov.uk.

this is my mistake - my mistake for speeding and then not reading that I didnt need to pay the fine. I didn't receive a letter about needing to send my driving licence in, and because I had confirmation that I was registered for a driving course didnt realise that because I'd paid the fine the police automatically withdraw the speed awareness course. I thought they were saying it was withdrawn because the courses could not have been held.

To say I'm bricking it a bit is an understatement, but it was a genuine mistake.

Obviously I need to follow the links and do what they say, but what happens when I go through this process? - am I likely to receive a thousand pound fine and still have three points? - or what?

I cant afford to loose my licence (I have three previous points) as I will loose my job.

Any advice welcome.

cheers

24valve.






martinbiz

3,698 posts

174 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2020
quotequote all
24valve said:
Hi,

I wonder if anyone can help with what will happen next. Unfortunately, on the 10th March this year, I was sent a notice of intended prosecution for speeding (81 in a 70). It was sent to my company first, and my gaffer ticked the box that said I wanted to do a driver awareness course (at the time I had three points on my licence).

I filled in the form and sent it back and they confirmed I could do the speed awareness course and sent a link to book it through ndors.org.uk. This though was at the start of the lockdown, I tried to book the course a few times, but as was then normal, no training could have taken place. I emailed ndors.org.uk a few times, along with hampshire police and they said they would get in touch when courses were running again.

However, at the same time, I thought I needed to pay the speeding fine, so paid the £100 quid online and didnt think too much off it. Clearly, I misread the paperwork because I had always thought that whether you had the points or the course, you still had to pay the fine. In fact I am sure this used to be the case years ago.

This has reared its head because at the weekend I received a letter from Hampshire police saying it has been referred to magistrates court hearing because I hadn't sent my driving licence in (I didn't receive a letter saying I had to and the original letter said I dont need to send in my licence if I was doing the course), and that I now need to go online to makeaplea.justice.gov.uk.

this is my mistake - my mistake for speeding and then not reading that I didnt need to pay the fine. I didn't receive a letter about needing to send my driving licence in, and because I had confirmation that I was registered for a driving course didnt realise that because I'd paid the fine the police automatically withdraw the speed awareness course. I thought they were saying it was withdrawn because the courses could not have been held.

To say I'm bricking it a bit is an understatement, but it was a genuine mistake.

Obviously I need to follow the links and do what they say, but what happens when I go through this process? - am I likely to receive a thousand pound fine and still have three points? - or what?

I cant afford to loose my licence (I have three previous points) as I will loose my job.

Any advice welcome.

cheers

24valve.
Why not do the obvious thing first and contact them and explain you sent the fine by mistake as you had already accepted and paid for the speed awarness course that was offered which they should be able to trace.

Sorry misread the first bit, do you have copies of the emails between you?


Edited by martinbiz on Tuesday 23 June 14:44

Twig62

763 posts

125 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2020
quotequote all
I don't understand why your employer would have told them that you wanted to do a speed awareness course. Surely he should have just named you as the driver and returned the NIP for them to contact you ?

agtlaw

7,402 posts

235 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2020
quotequote all
You didn't receive "a letter." You received a Single Justice Procedure Notice. You have 21 days to respond. Court proceedings have commenced against you and it's too late to enter into correspondence about mistakes you made earlier in the process.

If you accept the offence then you should plead guilty. Requesting a court hearing for this nonsense would be a waste of court time. Deal with it online using the makeaplea website. Explain your predicament in as few words as possible.

This is a level 3 offence. The maximum fine is £1000. That isn't a tariff sentence. The court will take into account your means, the stage at which you pleaded guilty and the guideline - which indicates a relatively small fine (Band A). You will also be liable for prosecution costs (usually £85) and a surcharge (10% of the fine but £32 minimum for a March 2020 offence).

The Single Magistrate is entitled to impose a fine equivalent to a Fixed Penalty. I.e. £100. If your response is clear and you're contrite about the offence then that's a distinct possibilty. 3 points, a virtual certainty.



Edited by agtlaw on Tuesday 23 June 16:05

Al Tee

53 posts

231 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2020
quotequote all
If pleading guilty by post to a Single Justice Procedural Notice, how long does the process take from pleading guilty to getting your licence back?

un1corn

2,143 posts

166 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2020
quotequote all
My recent speed awareness sheet basically said

"if you pay the fine and opt to book a course, you'll be charged for both but we will take the fine as acceptance of penalty and you'll get the points, you must send us your licence if you pay the fine"

So that's obviously what happened here and there's not much you can do about that.

agtlaw

7,402 posts

235 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2020
quotequote all
Al Tee said:
If pleading guilty by post to a Single Justice Procedural Notice, how long does the process take from pleading guilty to getting your licence back?
It's properly called a Single Justice Procedure Notice; see Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/2/part/3/...

If you submit your plea online then the system generated response will indicate the date on which your case will be reviewed.

The review date is no sooner than 28 days after the Posting Date.


agtlaw

7,402 posts

235 months

Tuesday 23rd June 2020
quotequote all
un1corn said:
My recent speed awareness sheet basically said

"if you pay the fine and opt to book a course, you'll be charged for both but we will take the fine as acceptance of penalty and you'll get the points, you must send us your licence if you pay the fine"

So that's obviously what happened here and there's not much you can do about that.
That obviously isn't what happened here. OP has received a SJPN.