Question about timings: Summary offence, court summons.

[Fullook]

i was caught speeding on 30th June last year.

The alleged speed was sufficiently high that it should result in a court summons, a driving ban and a chunky fine.

I've not yet received the summons.

I'm aware that the while the police must submit the application for the summons to the court within 6 months of the offence (30th December), I may not receive the summons until some time after that, as it may take the court some time to schedule the hearing and issue the paperwork.

My question is: can anybody on here offer any informed estimates of latest date by which I'm likely to receive the summons? And also is there any rule of thumb about how long a wait there is between receipt of the summons and the court date?

Thanks in advance.

[agtlaw]

Fullook said:

i was caught speeding on 30th June last year.

The alleged speed was sufficiently high that it should result in a court summons, a driving ban and a chunky fine.

I've not yet received the summons.

I'm aware that the while the police must submit the application for the summons to the court within 6 months of the offence (30th December), I may not receive the summons until some time after that, as it may take the court some time to schedule the hearing and issue the paperwork.

My question is: can anybody on here offer any informed estimates of latest date by which I'm likely to receive the summons? And also is there any rule of thumb about how long a wait there is between receipt of the summons and the court date?

Thanks in advance.

I assume you're in England or Wales.

It's 2025 so forget about a Summons from the court. A 'new system' was introduced in 2015.

The police prosecutor may issue a Written Charge without reference to the court. The charge is served with a Postal Requisition or, more commonly, a Single Justice Procedure Notice. It is sent directly to you by the police.

The time limit to issue the written charge is 6 months. The day of the offence is not taken into account when computing the time limit.

If the offence is 30 June 2024 then the last day to issue the written charge was 1 January 2025. The prosecutor could serve the written charge on you after 6 months only if it was issued within 6 months.

Late service can potentially amount to an abuse of process.

Edited by agtlaw on Friday 3rd January 11:49

[blueg33]

Does that mean the Op is off the hook?

[agtlaw]

blueg33 said:

Does that mean the Op is off the hook?

No.

[Fullook]

agtlaw said:

Fullook said:

i was caught speeding on 30th June last year.

The alleged speed was sufficiently high that it should result in a court summons, a driving ban and a chunky fine.

I've not yet received the summons.

I'm aware that the while the police must submit the application for the summons to the court within 6 months of the offence (30th December), I may not receive the summons until some time after that, as it may take the court some time to schedule the hearing and issue the paperwork.

My question is: can anybody on here offer any informed estimates of latest date by which I'm likely to receive the summons? And also is there any rule of thumb about how long a wait there is between receipt of the summons and the court date?

Thanks in advance.

I assume you're in England or Wales.

It's 2025 so forget about a Summons from the court. A 'new system' was introduced in 2015.

The police prosecutor may issue a Written Charge without reference to the court. The charge is served with a Postal Requisition or, more commonly, a Single Justice Procedure Notice. It is sent directly to you by the police.

The time limit to issue the written charge is 6 months. The day of the offence is not taken into account when computing the time limit.

If the offence is 30 June 2024 then the last day to issue the written charge was 1 January 2025. The prosecutor could serve the written charge on you after 6 months only if it was issued within 6 months.

Late service can potentially amount to an abuse of process.

Edited by agtlaw on Friday 3rd January 11:49

Thanks for this. Can I ask you to clarify:

"The police prosecutor may issue a Written Charge without reference to the court" - does this mean that if they wish to progress the prosecution they have to do this via a Written Charge or do they still have the option of doing it in the 'old way' via a court summons?

"The prosecutor could serve the written charge on you after 6 months only if it was issued within 6 months." does this mean they would have to have posted it before 2nd Jan, even if I don't receive it until after 2nd Jan? (in other words, does "issued" mean "posted" and "served" means "received by me"?

If the time limit to issue is 6 months, why is late service only potentially an abuse of process?

Is the reason I am not off the hook because they may indeed have issued (posted?) within the time limit but postal delays mean it just hasn't landed yet... or is there some other means I could yet end up in court?

And finally (), in your opinion, what is the point in time, should I still have received nothing, that I could reasonably start to feel extremely lucky?

Thanks again.

[agtlaw]

Fullook said:

Thanks for this. Can I ask you to clarify:

No.

You should email (or call) the ticket office. Quote the reference number. Ask - what was the outcome of this case? They will likely say 'cancelled' or 'no further action.'

[Fullook]

Update on this just to bring the thread to a close.

I followed agtlaw's suggestion and rang the police ticketing office today - it seems the case has been cancelled; no reason given.

[Wills2]

Well that's a good outcome for you! Now just be careful out there.

[bad company]

Well done op, result.

I had a similar experience nearly 23 years ago. This was my first post on PH from then:-

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Funk]

Blimey, a stroke of New Year luck right there then OP...!

[RobbyJ]

Well done OP and great advice as always by AGTlaw.