Advice Please - Going to court Re: Parking Ticket.....

[UnitedFront]

Hi all, I'm having to go to court in relation to a parking ticket. A brief history is as follows:

 

1) Received a Penalty Charge Notice in early August.

2) Paid the above Penalty Charge Notice within 2 weeks at the reduced rate.

 

3) In September, received a Charge Certificate in relation to a Penalty Charge Notice at the same location.

It turned out that this Charge Certificate was actually in relation to a DIFFERENT PCN, one which I DID NOT RECEIVE.

 

4) Had court forms come through and had to issue a Witness Statement. I filled in, signed and then emailed the Witness Statement to the Traffic Enforcement Centre in Northampton, as per the instructions. This was done at the end of October.

 

5) Found out a few weeks ago that for some reason the Northampton County Court (TEC) had failed to do ANYTHING with my witness statement and so a Warrant had been issued against me.

 

6) I filled out and filed the form application to submit a witness statement out of time along with a new witness statement.

 

7) Yesterday, I got an order from the Court Officer at Northampton (TEC) that the application was refused. I WAS EXPECTING THIS!! I'M YET TO COME ACROSS A SINGLE EXAMPLE OF THE COURT OFFICER THERE ACTUALLY GRANTING AN APPLICATION!!

 

8 ) SO now.... I have to file the N244 and accompanying witness statement etc with the TEC with the relevant fee and have the matter transfered to my local court for a hearing with the District Judge.

 

So this is where I could do with some advice etc etc etc just to try and make sure I get everything right. I've been writing up all the stuff that I need to submit and I wonder if people here with more experience (I've only had to do this a couple of times, never in relation to parking and never where a case has to be transferred to a different court!) could look and offer any advice etc.

 

Specifically I have the following question that I could really do with answers to:

1) At the top of the following documents, should I put "Northampton County Court" or should I put my local court where I want the case to be transferred to?

 

What I written is as follows:

 

Witness Statement:

IN THE XXXXXX COUNTY COURT Claim No: THXXXXXXXXXXXX

IN AN ACTION

 

BETWEEN:

 

[ LONDON BOROUGH OF XXXXXXXXXX ]

Claimant

 

and

 

[ MR XXXXXXXX ]

Defendant

WITNESS STATEMENT OF XXXXXXX

 

I, Mr XXXXXXX of ADDRESS XXXXXXX make this statement in support of my application for an order to set aside the decision of the Court Officer of Northampton County Court to refuse my application to file a Witness Statement Out of Time, to allow me to file the same and to return the fee paid by myself in relation to this application:

 

• The facts and matters referred to in this witness statement are within my own knowledge, except where I have indicated otherwise. Where the facts are within my knowledge, they are true. Where they are not within my own knowledge, they are true to the best of my information and belief. I have stated the source of my information or belief.

• There is now produced and shown to me a bundle of documents marked “A1”. The exhibit “A1” contains copies of all forms and/or application that I have filed and served previously in relation to this matter along with correspondence received from Northampton County Court in relation to my initial application being rejected by the Court Officer. This bundle is produced to demonstrate the steps that I have previously taken and the nature of the proceedings that have taken place thus far.

 

 

The claim

 

• In relation to the alleged parking contravention relating to this application I did not, at any point, receive any Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). Thus, I did not receive a Notice to Owner as required.

• I DID inform London Borough of Tower Hamlets of this fact at the first instance that this matter came to my attention.

• I DID file a Witness Statement by email and within the required time limit and this was served by email to Northampton County Court (Traffic Enforcement Centre) on Wednesday XXXXXr 2010.

• I was made aware only on XXXXXr 2010 that the court had, for a reason or reasons unknown, failed to take any action upon the statement which I had emailed. I was only made aware of this when I telephoned the Traffic Enforcement Centre to enquire as to the progress of this case.

• I then proceeded immediately and on the same day (XXXXXXX 2010) to issue a further witness statement along with an application to file it out of time (as the delay caused by the previous point had caused the matter to now have extended beyond the prescribed standard time limit) and these were both filed and served upon the Traffic Enforcement Centre at Northampton County Court again, by email.

• I received an unrelated Penalty Charge Notice from the same claimant Local Authority, for an identical alleged parking contravention occurring a day prior to that on which the contravention to which this application relates is alleged to have taken place.

• I paid the reduced Penalty in relation to the ONE Penalty Charge Notice that I did recieve, by paying it within the required limited time-frame.

• I believe, and I respectfully submit, that the above point demonstrates that if I had received the Penalty Charge Notice to which this application relates, I would have taken the same steps so as to avoid further expense. I further respectfully submit that this point supports my statement that I did NOT receive any Notice to Owner (PCN) in relation to this alleged parking contravention.

 

The Court Officer’s Decision

 

• By way of an order made on 8th December 2010 the Court Officer refused my application to file a Witness Statement Out of Time.

• Attached to the copy of this Order that was served upon me, was the response submitted by London Borough of XXXXXX to the Court Officer in response to my application. This response was merely a single sentence stating that the Local Authority wished to oppose the application. It did not, as it appears to me, include any substantive reasoning as to why the Local Authority were opposing the application, nor as it appears to me any substantive reasoning as to why the Court Officer should reject the application.

• A copy of the abovementioned Order along with the attached response from London Borough of XXXXXX is included within the Bundle marked “A1” for the court’s convenience and ease of reference.

 

 

Summary

• For the reasons which I have outlined above, I respectfully ask the court to grant the order requested:

 

• To Set Aside the Court Officer’s decision.

• To allow me to file a Witness Statement Out of Time in relation to the alleged parking contravention.

• To use the court’s discretion to order the return of the £75 fee paid by myself for filing this application.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true.

 

Signed ________________________

 

Dated __________________

 

 

 

Draft Order:

IN THE XXXXXXXXXX COUNTY COURT Claim No: THXXXXXXXX

 

IN AN ACTION

 

BETWEEN

 

 

[LONDON BOROUGH OF XXXXXXXXXXX]

Claimant

 

and

 

[MR XXXXXXXXXX]

Defendant

 

 

Draft/ORDER

 

UPON [hearing the claimant and the defendant]

 

AND UPON [reading the witness statements of [Mr XXXXX] and [London Borough of XXXXXXXX]

 

IT IS ORDERED THAT:

• The decision of the Court Officer at Northampton County Court be set aside

• The defendant be allowed to submit a Witness Statement Out of Time in relation to this matter

• The £75 fee paid by the defendant in order to bring this application be returned to him

 

Dated the day of 2010

 

 

 

 

 

Any advice and / or guidance would be really very gratefully received, as the clock is ticking and I really need to be getting this stuff sorted and sent off if I am going to get it to the court in time.

 

Many thanks

UF

Edited December 16, 2010 by UnitedFront