Major error in NIP
Discussion
My stepson has recieved a NIP for a serious traffic offence. I know that minor mistakes are not an excuse to get you off on a technicality but in this case a fundamental error has been made. The registration number of the car that he was driving is incorrect. One digit out - 70 instead of 72. Is this enough to challenge the charge? I even question that the copper may have done this deliberately as they were incredibly sympathetic to the situation that my stepson found himself in which resulted in the charge - unlikely i know but.....
mickjackiewicz said:
My stepson has recieved a NIP for a serious traffic offence. I know that minor mistakes are not an excuse to get you off on a technicality but in this case a fundamental error has been made. The registration number of the car that he was driving is incorrect. One digit out - 70 instead of 72. Is this enough to challenge the charge? I even question that the copper may have done this deliberately as they were incredibly sympathetic to the situation that my stepson found himself in which resulted in the charge - unlikely i know but.....
If police spoke to him at the time a NIP is not necessary.They have all of his details correct. But he's been asked to fill in and sign a NIP for a car with the incorrect registration. If they wrote down an incorrect registration number at the scene of the accident (which wasn't his fault) then surely there's a procedural error that could render the charge invalid?
What is a notice of intended prosecution? | West Yorkshire Police https://share.google/voGDAyoc3kRAbKyA7
"When you receive a NIP it doesn't automatically mean that you are going to face prosecution, it is a warning that you may face prosecution."
"Small mistakes on the notice do not render it ineffective..."
"When you receive a NIP it doesn't automatically mean that you are going to face prosecution, it is a warning that you may face prosecution."
"Small mistakes on the notice do not render it ineffective..."
Edited by Super Sonic on Friday 12th September 00:51
mickpjack69 said:
They have all of his details correct. But he's been asked to fill in and sign a NIP for a car with the incorrect registration. If they wrote down an incorrect registration number at the scene of the accident (which wasn't his fault) then surely there's a procedural error that could render the charge invalid?
I will say it again. The NIP is not necessary if he was stopped at the side of the road. The NIP has probably just been sent as a matter of course.So therfore it will not matter if the registration is wrong.
A NIP is only to make the person aware that they need to cast their mind back to a particular date within 14 days about an incident they would not be aware of. If the person is stopped at the side of the road they are aware of the incident.
I know that minor mistakes are not an excuse to get you off on a technicality
.. proceeds to describe a minor mistake in an effort to get off on a technicality.
Stepson is not unfamiliar with the incident, having been stopped and spoken to at the time. Had they not been stopped one could attempt to dismiss the NIP as the person having no genuine association with the incorrect reg, and therefore no memory of an incident (a lie), but even that isn t necessarily fatal.
As it is, and has been said, the NIP isn t even needed in this case. The Police have enough info to send the correspondence to the right address so it is likely the case that the registration is wrong due to a typo rather than the plate having been recorded incorrectly.
.. proceeds to describe a minor mistake in an effort to get off on a technicality.
Stepson is not unfamiliar with the incident, having been stopped and spoken to at the time. Had they not been stopped one could attempt to dismiss the NIP as the person having no genuine association with the incorrect reg, and therefore no memory of an incident (a lie), but even that isn t necessarily fatal.
As it is, and has been said, the NIP isn t even needed in this case. The Police have enough info to send the correspondence to the right address so it is likely the case that the registration is wrong due to a typo rather than the plate having been recorded incorrectly.
mickpjack69 said:
They have all of his details correct. But he's been asked to fill in and sign a NIP for a car with the incorrect registration. If they wrote down an incorrect registration number at the scene of the accident (which wasn't his fault) then surely there's a procedural error that could render the charge invalid?
If there was an accident then no warning in terms of section 1 of the RTOA 1988 is required (as per section 2 of the same act) so an error on the NIP would not be a get out of jail free card. Cat
E-bmw said:
Riley Blue said:
O,:37K, I'll ask the question everyone probably wants the answer to: if the accident wasn't his fault, what was the serious traffic offence that led to the NIP?
What accident is this?cuprabob said:
E-bmw said:
Riley Blue said:
O,:37K, I'll ask the question everyone probably wants the answer to: if the accident wasn't his fault, what was the serious traffic offence that led to the NIP?
What accident is this?Thanks for all of your replies. Sorry for the confusion over my id - I reset it after making the original post. Seems I've been a bit hopeful with this. The accident was caused when my stepson came round a bend and a car coming the other way came at him on the wrong side of the road and a head-on collision occured. My stepson blew a positive breath test. No sympathy for him - it was his choice to drink and now faces losing his job as it was a company car and he's more than old enough to know better. As I said, the police were almost apologetic and felt sorry for him.
mickpjack69 said:
Thanks for all of your replies. Sorry for the confusion over my id - I reset it after making the original post. Seems I've been a bit hopeful with this. The accident was caused when my stepson came round a bend and a car coming the other way came at him on the wrong side of the road and a head-on collision occured. My stepson blew a positive breath test. No sympathy for him - it was his choice to drink and now faces losing his job as it was a company car and he's more than old enough to know better. As I said, the police were almost apologetic and felt sorry for him.
While I find his story suspect, I hope everyone is ok, and no lasting harm/injury was done.Be aware that his insurers may have some opinions on the nature of how he arrived at the accident, so it has potential to get expensive.
mickpjack69 said:
They have all of his details correct. But he's been asked to fill in and sign a NIP for a car with the incorrect registration. If they wrote down an incorrect registration number at the scene of the accident (which wasn't his fault) then surely there's a procedural error that could render the charge invalid?
The bit that he's been asked to fill in and sign is presumably an s172 requirement for driver's details, not a NIP, as no response is needed to a NIP. (For convenience a NIP and an s172 requirement are usually combined on a single piece of paper, but legally they are separate documents with different purposes).If it was drink driving then he was presumably arrested and taken to the police station so there will be little doubt that it was him driving. So goodness knows why the police feel that they need to send him an s172 requirement - belt and braces perhaps.
If he wants to play silly buggers then I suppose he could truthfully reply that he doesn't own the car XX70XXX and has no idea who was driving it. I wouldn't recomment it though. If he was being accused of doing 80mph on a motorway then if he was very lucky that might result in the matter being quietly dropped, but a drink driving charge relating to an accident isn't going to go away because of a typo on a form that the police didn't actually have to send him in the first place. Nor should it. There'd be nothing to stop the police issuing a new s172 requirement with the correct registration number, turning up at his door to demand the information in person, or just proceeding with the prosecution with the details collected at the scene and the booking photo as evidence that it was him driving. Messing about over a typo will just make him look shifty - better just to return the form with a note saying that he presumes that they meant XX72XXX IMO.
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