Urgent Summons Under S172(3)

[droddis]

i have recieved a court summons this morning for a failing to supply information under S172(3) of the RTA1998. This is the first i have heard regarding this matter. The Police have enclosed request for information as evidence, but they were never recieved, my partner can back me up that i never recieved it as she is nosey and always reads my mail.

 

I have 3 Options

 

1. Plead Guilty by Letter

2. Plead Guilty in Person

3. Plead Not Guilty

 

What do i do i cannot afford a solicitor, i am guilty of speeding but would have paid the fine as soon as i recieved it (if i had known).

 

How do i plead?

 

Thanks

[lamma]

have you recently changed address ? how do you know you are guilty of speeding ? did you receive a NIP and ignore it ? sounds like one for the fightback forum.

[droddis]

They have enclosed the NIP they say they sent which says the place and time. I know the road is a 30 and it is highly possible i was doing 35. If they NIP did come through i would of returned it as the driver and accepted being guilty of speeding.

[lamma]

what is the date of the alleged offense on the NIP ?

[droddis]

25/03/2008

[lamma]

take this to the "fightback forum". you are looking at a timeout but a good S3 defense takes some care and effort.

[droddis]

I just joined fightback after reading your previous post and posted the details.

 

What is a timeout and S3 defence.

[JonCris]

I think someone in authority might be trying to cover their butts as had they sent a NIP now it would probably have been just out of time

[JonCris]

You could ask why it has taken so long to send you a section 172 summons when a NIP must be responded to within a very short period of time

[droddis]

Because GMP are only interested in making money not taking people to court.

[lamma]

they have NIP date plus 28 days plus six months to lay the information for the S172

[JonCris]

drod I don't understand your comment as even if now paid that would only be mitigation as the sec 172 is a summons & may still require the OP to attend court when they may still receive further punishment for not complying with the original NIP

[patdavies]

As I am sure you will be advised in the fightback forums, you should plead not guilty.

 

1) You state that you did not receive the original NIP/S.172 demand. The Police/prosecution will rely on the fact that it was deemed served 2 business days after posting. However, this is a rebuttable presumption and relies on you stating on oath that you did not receive it and being believed. Any history of your post going missing/wrong addresses will help. You should also state that whilst the Police have the option of using recorded or registered post to ensure service, by relying on the Royal Mail First Class service - which loses millions of letters per year - they are, to an extent, authors of their own misfortune.

 

2) As to speeding, it matters not a jot whether you were speeding or not. Information must be laid before the Court to issue a summons within 6 months of the alleged offence. This clearly hasn't happened - presumably because without the S.172 response, they have no evidence as to the identity of the driver.

[JonCris]

I agree with Pat & as I have already stated why has it taken them so long to send the summons after you 1st failed to respond within the relatively short period allowed by law........... summat not right here