Been wrongly named as the driver of car caught speeding *** Resolved***

[norton47]

Hello everyone, hopefully someone can help us sort this out.

 

In October 2020 my dad got a speeding fine through the post, for a car he has never seen, owned or driven.

We requested the photo to see if we recognised who was driving at the time of the offence, as they gave my fathers name and address so we thought they must know him. It was a poor quality photo, but it was a stranger.

 

We rang the police and asked what to do, they said write to the DVLA and ask them to remove my father's name from the database regarding this car.

The police could not tell us who owned the car, so we said that we checked online and the car in question was taxed, tested and insured, could they not trace the driver that way? They said they couldn't. We wrote to the DVLA and that was that 

 

,until today.

My Dad got a failure to give drivers info sec 172 in the post.

Can someone explain how this can happen?

 

We got the speeding camera photo and you can see its a man with dark hair in his 30s or 40s, my dad has white hair and is 75, all the police had to do was look at the photo on file on my dads driving licence and they can see it's not him. 

 

When this sec 172 arrived, we finally saw, through something called the pentip system, that the fine went to the registered keeper, then a garage and then to someone my dad has known for 40 years, a man who was jailed in the last 10 years for fraud. He is the one who gave my dads name ,he must of known that my dad had been shielding at the time of the offence as he is on the clinically extremely vulnerable list and in very poor health.  

 

How can this be allowed and what do we do next with regards to responding to this sec 172, i was just going to fill it in online and plead not guilty, but the way this has been handled so far, my dad will end up getting convicted. It's like the evidence doesn't matter.

[norton47]

No,not yet.We have heard nothing from the DVLA at all about this,we tried ringing at the time,but we just kept getting recorded messages saying call another time,then they would disconnect the call.

Thank you for replying.

[norton47]

The offence was in August 2020,and to be honest the only proof we will have is his and my Mothers word that he was in the house and we would have trouble proving it i think,unless he has google timeline switched on on his phone and that will show where he was that day.

But it is 10000% not him in the speed camera photo,not even a close resemblance.

[norton47]

I don't actually remember what it was he got, hopefully he has kept the original letter from last year, i will ask him tomorrow if he still has it. If it was a s.172, and he sent it back saying he didn't know who was driving, would this of happened?

 

I can't believe someone can just throw your name in to the police and an innocent person has to go through all this. We know now who gave his name ,but it wasn't him in the photo either, so it was whoever he sold the car to or a friend of his. I have no qualms about shopping this bloke if it will help prove my dads innocence.

 

This is the letter we posted to the DVLA in October last year.

 

To whom it may concern, I have been nominated as the driver of a car that has been caught speeding.
I have never owned the car, seen the car or know anything about the car.

I have received the photos of who is driving the car, I do not recognise them, but if you check my driving licence photo,y ou can see it is clearly not me.

I would like my details removed from the database regarding this car before it goes any further.

I have informed the police I am not the owner or the driver, and never have been, but I would like to know the name of the person who is.

We checked the car online and it is taxed and insured,so surely whoever is paying for that will be able to help with enquiries, and I hope be prosecuted for giving false information about me with regards to who was driving at the time.

[norton47]

He is in bed at home right now,i will have to do it tomorrow,but what i meant was,what was he meant to reply,he genuinely didn't know the car or driver,would they have believed him?

I wish i could remember what happened with the letter but my memory is nearly as bad as his.

 

Edited March 19, 2021 by norton47

[norton47]

Thanks everyone,for replying,i will report back tomorrow.

[norton47]

Ok,sorry about any confusion, i have a mental problem and my train of thought is terrible.

 

Here are the facts, timeline etc.

30/09/20 my dad gets a request to name driver through the post

 

06/10/20 my dad was sent the photograph of the speeding car with further correspondence

The next two bits of information we only know because they are in the letter he received the other day.

 

30/10/20 my dad was charged  sec 172(3) rta 88

 

25/02/2021 somebody checked the FPU system and stated that there was an absence of reply.

My mother has confirmed that the original request to name the driver was returned 08/10/2020 stating he did not know who the driver was and the car was unknown to him.

 

At the same time a letter stating the same was sent to the DVLA on advice from the police over the phone.

 

No reply from the DVLA,

no more correspondence from the police until 2 days ago when he got a single justice procedure notice RT88567.

 

I have just checked online,my dad still has zero penalty points on his licence.

 

[norton47]

Thank you for replying.We are in England,the recent letter mentions the FPU system,i have no clue what that is.

 

We will be pleading not guilty,because he is not guilty.

 

Surely if they look at the evidence of the photo,where it's clearly not my dad driving the car,he is not and never has been the registered keeper of the car,he was shielding at the time on the advice of the Government and the man who gave his name is a convicted fraudster,surely that would be enough to convince them he is not guilty?

 

Can they not investigate the man who named him as the driver?

There is no way he could go to court though,it would kill him,literally.The effect this is having on his health is already taking it's toll.

 

He has 17 days to reply to the charge.

[norton47]

I understand,focus on this charge and hope they believe the truth that he did send the reply and it has been lost in the post.

Unfortunately there is no proof of postage,the post box is 150ft from my parents house and it was just posted there.

[norton47]

11 minutes ago, Manxman in exile said:

(I'd be inclined not to mention the person you claim is a convicted fraudster because your dad's argument is he doesn't know the driver.  Also you shouldn't know who anybody else in the chain of s172 requests is anyway under data protection laws.  How did you find out?  You can just suggest that somebody earlier in the chain of 172 requests must have mistakenly named your father).

 

The papers that arrived the other day show the chain of requests,with their full name and addresses,it was sent to the registered keeper,then a garage,then the fraudster,then my dad.

[norton47]

The papers say they received no reply to the request for drivers info.

It's stupid,we even requested the photo of the driver to see if it was someone we knew,before sending the reply back.Why would we do that and then not reply?

And the man driving is not even the fraudster,its a stranger.

[norton47]

Thank you.

My mother has found the letter (that i did not know had come)that came from the DVLA stating that my dad was never the owner or registered keeper and had no connection to the car and he has been removed from the database about the car in question,and the letter should be included in any reply to the police,but the letter didn't arrive until December 2020.

 

We are going to plead not guilty, but first i am going to ring the CPS to see if this can be stopped, to save my dad from going to court.

 

The facts so far

October 2020 My dad gets a a sec 172(3) RTA 88

 

We ring the police and request the photo of the offence

 

We don't know the car or recognise the driver.

 

We fill in the sec 172(3) RTA 88 and return it, stating the above (no proof, it was just posted in the post box but my mother will go to court and swear its true)

 

Following police advice we write a letter to the DVLA asking for my dads details to be removed from the database.

 

December 2020 They receive a letter from the DVLA saying he has been removed from the database about the car in question and my dad was never the owner or registered keeper and had no connection to the car.

 

March 2021 my dad gets charged with RT88567 failure to identify the driver of a car.

[norton47]

I get what you are saying,but would it not show that if he sent a letter to the DVLA about this,that he would have also sent the request back to the police asking to name the driver?

[norton47]

I will try the to appeal to the police and CPS first,see if common sense prevails.

[norton47]

Hello everyone and thank you.

I have just had a telephone call with a very nice man from the prosecution service,the charge has been dropped.

[norton47]

He said a letter has already been sent out today.

[norton47]

Will do,i now know he was named as the driver of a speeding car,but the actual thing he was getting charged with was failing to name the driver,caused by the reply going missing in the post.

I don't know if you can change the title to reflect that,to help people in the same situation.

[norton47]

The letter confirming the charge has been dropped,arrived today.Thank you everyone.