Applied For Speed Awareness Course but heard nothing...now Court Summons!

[SARAHTED]

I was caught doing 60 in a 50 in March 2013 and offered a speed awareness course. I completed and returned all the forms accepting to do the course, rather than take penalty points. I then heard nothing more and received no acknowledgment or further info, and rather forgot about it, just assuming there was a long waiting time/back log on the course. On 19 August I receive a court summons for speeding. I called the relevant police department and was told it was my fault for not checking that my speed awareness application had been received and accepted. A letter was apparently sent to me early April telling me i wasn't eligible for the course (even though i'd initially been offered it) and was due 3 points. I NEVER received this. Had i received it I would have responded and just swallowed the points.

Feel totally gutted that I'm about to face far higher fine and stress of court having done nothing but cooperate. Any advise out there?

[BazzaS]

Write again, sending it recorded delivery, asking if it was correct that you should never have been offered the speed awareness course.

 

ACPO guidance states:

"1.1.6. The thresholds under which the courses will operate have been laid down by ACPO and are at the prosecution threshold of 10% +2 mph to a maximum of 10% +9 mph over the statutory limit. However it is a bandwidth within which a police force may consider diverting an offender and this does not remove local decision-making using the attendant circumstances which may well warrant an alternative method of disposal, such as taking no further action, a warning letter, conditional offer a fixed penalty, or summons."

 

http://www.acpo.police.uk/documents/uniformed/2011/20111018%20UOBA%20Abbreviated%20Speed%20Awareness%20v1%209%20_DORS%20Compliant_.pdf

 

For a 50 limit, the courses can thus be offered for between 57 up to 64 mph. Is it worth you checking what your local police service's implementation guidelines are?

(Was it the speed or some other reason that made you ineligible for the driver awareness course?)

 

None the less, the guidelines do make it clear that they don't HAVE to offer you the course, so even if below their local policy's speed they can decline to offer the course (but then, why send you the forms?)

 

If it still goes to court : Whilst court may be stressful, it is your opportunity to attend, plead guilty and appear contrite, apologise that the court's time is being taken up, explain the sequence of events and ask (in mitigation) if the court would consider offering you the reduced (3) points you would have accepted to avoid using the court's time had you been made aware earlier in the process that the driver awareness course was not an option, contrary to what you were originally led to believe.

Edited August 22, 2013 by BazzaS

[Conniff]

You can SAR them (tenner) and that will show if any letters were sent.