Need Statutory Declaration for unknown speeding/failure to ID driver **RESOLVED RESET TO SPEEDING**

[dx100uk]

to clarify the above for you

 

 

[Man in the middle]

 

 

15 hours ago, JenRuss said:

I will let you all know how I get on when I do a Stat Dec on wednesday morning.

I am hopeful that they will accept that I knew nothing of the earlier proceedings and original request for driver details - as this is the truth and should I need evidence I have got that.
 

My hope is that I will be asked to plead for the speeding offence and I will agree to plead guilty if the failure to provide details of driver offence is dropped.

 

However if this doesn’t happen, will I still have to answer to the charge of non disclosure of driver details? 

If I do have to answer to this charge I would plead not guilty -as I haven’t received the correspondence.

 

I just wonder what are the chances of the Magistrates deciding this requires a trial and accepting that I tried to update my new address details? Or is this very unlikely to occur?

 

I obviously don’t want another 6 points and a fine of £1k as I’d be worse off than if I’d paid the bailiffs!  

 

Can anyone shed any light on how likely I am to be charged with the offence of not updating my records or would this be something the DVLA would have to start?

 

I have since updated online so I think they are unlikely to initiate proceedings.  

 

You need to get you head round this, Jen.

 

First of all, you will make your Statutory Declaration (SD). The court's Legal Advisor will help you complete the paperwork before you come before the Magistrates. Then you will make your declaration (which is, roughly, to read what you've written on the form). Take no notice of the warnings that have appeared on here. Your SD will be accepted and you will not face a grilling.

 

You do not have to prove you knew nothing of the proceedings. You are simply stating, before the Magistrates, that you did not. All they are required to do is to confirm that you made your declaration.

That will set your original conviction aside.

 

Then, as is probably likely, you may be asked how you plead to the original offences. Hopefully both speeding and Fail to Supply Driver's Details (FtS) will be put. This is where you need to offer to do the "deal" that I mentioned. If you can, it might be useful to get to court early and ask to see the prosecutor. 

You can put your proposal to him (I'll use "him" but it may, of course, be "her"!) so that he can be prepared.

He may well then tell the Magistrates that he is dropping the FtS charge and that you are pleading guilty to speeding. If you are unable to see the prosecutor  beforehand, simply make your offer when you are asked how you plead. As I warned earlier, do not plead guilty to speeding until you have been assured that the FtS charge will be dropped. This "deal" is done every day in Magistrates' Courts. It is by no means unusual and the  prosecutor, Magistrates and Legal Advisor will all be well used to seeing it.

 

There are three potential pitfalls for which you should be prepared:

 

1. The original charges may not be put to you on Wednesday. This is unlikely as most areas adopt this practice now. If it happens you will simply leave the court and be told you will be advised in writing of a fresh date (when you can offer to do the deal again).

 

2. They may only put the FtS charge to you. This is also unlikely from what you have said. However, if it happens, you should plead Not Guilty to it and come back on here. We can then see if you have a reasonable defence to the charge.

 

3. The prosecutor may not accept your offer of the deal. This is a possibility though, provided both charges are put to you, it is very unlikely to happen. If it does, as I said earlier, plead Not Guilty to both charges and the matter will be adjourned for a trial. Once again, come back here and we can look at your options.

 

Things to remember for Wednesday:

 

A. You will not be "grilled" when making your SD.

 

B. You cannot be convicted of speeding unless you plead guilty. They have no evidence you were driving (that comes from you providing your details and you did not do). This is your leverage when offering to do the "deal".

 

C. Provided both charges are put to you, unless something very unusual happens, your deal is unlikely to be turned down. I heard of one case where it was. The defendant was, shall we say, less than polite to the prosecutor, so the prosecutor showed him where rudeness gets you. He ended up with nine points.

 

D. You will not face a trial for FtS on Wednesday. If you do have to plead NG to it (under (2) or (3) above) the matter will be adjourned to a later date. 

 

E. You will almost certainly face no action for failing to update your registration document when you changed address.

I'm not sure about the six month rule when it comes to this .

 

Most motoring offences cannot be prosecuted after six months.

However some can and in any case there is an argument that this offence did not only occur on the day you changed address but continued until you updated your details.

However, the offence is very rarely prosecuted and you have no need to worry about it.

 

Let me know if there is anything you are unsure of or if there is anything else I can help with.

Edited November 18, 2019 by Man in the middle

[Manxman in exile]

Hi Jen - If I were you I'd simply rely on Man in the Middle's advice and explanation above.  What he describes must happen every day up and down the land.

 

The only possible complication (and I only mention it here for the sake of completeness as I don't think it applies to you) is that you shouldn't do the plea bargain by pleading guilty to the speeding charge if you know that you weren't the driver.  I did mention this in the edit to one of my posts on Saturday.

 

But I don't think you need to worry about that as I think you accept that you were the driver at the time of the speeding offence, so everything ought to be straightforward.

 

Good luck - although I don't think you need it - it should all be ok.

[JenRuss]

Thank you so much Man in the middle and Manxman, you’ve been very helpful and I really appreciate your advice. I’ve been going over and over the possibilities and you’ve both helped to put my mind at ease.  Fingers crossed everything will be ok. I’ll keep you posted. Thanks again for your support and for taking the time to write such thorough replies, Jen 

[honeybee13]

I hope it goes well for you today, JR. Please let us know how you get on.

 

HB

[JenRuss]

Thanks for your advice and best wishes everyone. I had my statutory declaration hearing today and as you all thought ...Reset to the original speeding charge to which I pleaded guilty and dropped the failure to serve charge. Result - £130 fine inc surcharge and 3 points. Thank goodness! Appreciate everyone who took the time to comment some of you so comprehensively. Jen 

[honeybee13]

Well done, I'm pleased it went possibly as well as it could have. It sounds as if you can live with the result. 

 

HB

[Man in the middle]

Excellent result! Glad to have helped.

[dx100uk]

[Peterbard]

1 hour ago, JenRuss said:

Thanks for your advice and best wishes everyone. I had my statutory declaration hearing today and as you all thought ...Reset to the original speeding charge to which I pleaded guilty and dropped the failure to serve charge. Result - £130 fine inc surcharge and 3 points. Thank goodness! Appreciate everyone who took the time to comment some of you so comprehensively. Jen 

 

Good result, well done. 

;

[Manxman in exile]

Well done Jen.

[Manxman in exile]

I've been away and have only just caught up with this.  I'm delighted Jen got a satisfactory outcome despite the efforts of one poster...!

 

I've just read the closed discussion thread and must congratulate Man in the Middle on his very clear explanation of the process involved.

 

I'm also very pleased to have noticed that Dodgeball has cut through his own confusion and now accepts my original point that a SD made within 21 days of learning about the conviction will not be questioned by the court.  It was his denial of this and his insistence that I was "1000% wrong" and that I should be "ignored" by Jen that sparked off the discussion.

 

I very much look forward to being able to read DB's clarification of the "much misunderstood" s.14  (!!!).

Edited November 22, 2019 by Manxman in exile
addition

[Gick]

M in e, please don't poke the wasps' nest. 

[Manxman in exile]

The matter's closed.  Jen got her result.  I don't need to add anything else.

[Peterbard]

Sorry children, moved on for now. Everything I need to say is said.

 

I have a v low boredom threshold. ::) Although be pleased to convers with anyone else, in the spirit of mutual understanding.

 

 

[honeybee13]

I think this thread has run its course so I'm closing it. JenRuss, in the event you need it reopened please report this post or contact one of the site team.

 

HB