Thanks. No, he did not receive a large fine, as they took his financial circumstances into account I believe. The good news is he's managed to keep his job. Our mutual friend was very sympathetic and has arranged for someone to use his van while the ban is place and drive him around. It's going to be tough for him, but he's accepted what's happened. I haven't had a chance to speak to him face to face yet as he's very busy. If he mentions anything that may help other forum users I will update my post.

Dear All, Firstly, I wanted to say thank you to those who contributed to this thread. Unfortunately, it is bad news as my friend has lost his license for six months. He gave a statement to the court which I helped him prepare for and the magistrates did retire to deliberate. However, they said despite the circumstances they had no choice but to suspend his license. I think the crucial point was that he couldn't provide his old insurance policy as evidence. He didn't have a copy and had called his company to get one, but it didn't arrive in time. They also felt that despite his background it was his responsibility to make sure he was properly insured. Thanks again.

Thank you again for the responses. I have a few more questions if you don't mind: 1) Can a witness give evidence even if they were not involved in the incident or had first hand knowledge? I should add that it probably wouldn't be myself but a friend who speaks his native language that would be his witness, and they could only attest to his good character and that he is genuinely sorry for what happened. 2) Is he allowed to submit documents to the magistrates? It would be useful if he could show his old insurance policy that allowed him to drive other people's cars, so the court could see he genuinely believed he could do so. Also, I should have said before but he already has points on his license from using a mobile phone while driving. It was a while ago and I know he hasn't done it since as he's very religious and takes these things very seriously. Finally, he will not be represented by a lawyer as he went for legal advice and the solicitor told him they could take his money but it wouldn't make a difference. They said the court would look at the circumstances when it came to sentencing as he had clearly broken the law.

Thank you for the response and welcome. Do you know how much time defendants are allocated to address the court? Also when you say a family member or friend can speak up for him, is this in addition to him speaking?

Hello, I would be grateful if someone could offer some advice. A friend at work came to me for help a few months ago, as he had received a summons to the local Magistrate's Court. He was routinely stopped by the police while driving his uncle's car and it turned out his insurance did not cover him to drive another person's vehicle. He had recently changed his insurance and genuinely thought the new policy was the same as the previous one but did allow him to do so. I believe him as his English is not very good and even in his home country he only completed the minimum education required. I know it's his own fault if he didn't understand the new policy properly, but these things can be unnecessarily complicated even for a native speaker of English. I helped him to write a letter to the court admitting his guilt, apologising and explaining the circumstances. Unfortunately, he has now been summoned to court and will have to appear this week. He's terrified he will lose his license as that will mean he will lose his job also. I feel sorry for the guy as he has a wife and young children, but I'm at a loss on what he can do. Could anyone give some advice about the court appearance? Will he have a chance to address the court and is there anything he could say so to hopefully not lose his license? Many thanks in advance.