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Original poster

Legal advice - Scottish but driving charges in england

24 replies

mayaknew · 02/01/2020 14:39

I've posted in legal but thought I'd ask here too.

Can a Scottish lawyer help me in an English court? Its for driving charges but dh was driving my car. Didn't see any letter asking me to tell them the driver so now I'm being charged with that too.

OP posts:

BrokenWing · 02/01/2020 16:17

When you say you didn't see, do you mean you didn't receive? If you didn't receive do they not give you a number to call and you can explain no letter was received so you were not aware of the charges/offence until now?

Do you need a lawyer at this stage?

Original poster

mayaknew · 02/01/2020 18:04

Its likely I did receive and missed it. I have struggling a lot recently and not been dealing with life. Including opening letters.

I feel like I do need a lawyer I don't know what to do. Dh is acting like its no big deal. He never worries about anything.

OP posts:

BrokenWing · 02/01/2020 22:02

Why does he think it is no big deal? Have they have summoned you to court where the offence was committed and told you it is a 6 points and up to £1000 fine for failure to disclose?

EmmaC78 · 02/01/2020 22:02

Is it a summons to appear in Court for the charges? If so, the solicitor would want to go in person to represent you so a Scottish solicitor is not going to want to travel to an English court for driving offences. You would be better asking a local solicitor based near the court to represent you.

BrokenWing · 02/01/2020 22:03

Must admit I would be worried too and would be looking at the bank balance to see where the £1k was coming from!

BrokenWing · 02/01/2020 22:06

A Scottish lawyer could potentially write to the English court system to plead guilty and accept the points/fine on your behalf and ask permission to not attend the court. He can also confirm your dh was the driver in the original offence.

Original poster

mayaknew · 02/01/2020 22:07

They've not summoned me they've told me what the charges are and asked me for a plea. It says if I plead not guilty I will have to go to court.

OP posts:

Original poster

mayaknew · 02/01/2020 22:10

If its a fine I won't have to pay it all in one go though will I? Dh is a student so we dont have that much money and 3 dcs to feed.

OP posts:

Original poster

mayaknew · 02/01/2020 22:11

Broken he's just a dead chill guy. He doesn't really worry about anything. Which I must admit does make my anxiety worse.

OP posts:

BrokenWing · 02/01/2020 22:36

Would you be pleading not guilty? If you believe you have a defence then a lawyer local to the court would be more appropriate.

If you plead guilty they should send you details of the points/fine and if you can't pay you can contact the issuing court and ask to pay in instalments.

Remember the original offence will also need to be dealt with.

Your dh is not a dead chill guy, he is an unsupportive arse. He could work this all out on Google himself and relieve your anxiety. I hope he had some redeeming features.

Original poster

mayaknew · 04/01/2020 00:01

Yes I'll be pleading not guilty. I wasnt driving.

I phoned the court and they said there was nothing they can do.

I contacted a lawyer and they also said they cant help me. I need an English lawyer.

OP posts:

BrokenWing · 04/01/2020 10:16

I meant will you be pleading not guilty to the 'failure to declare' who was driving, and on what grounds? That is a different, separate and more serious charge.

For the original traffic charge are they not giving you the opportunity to now inform them who was driving or are you also being charged with that? A lawyer may be able to help you get that offence moved to the actual driver.

www.jmw.co.uk/services-for-you/motoring-law/failure-to-provide-information#Failure%20to%20Provide%20Information%20Explained

TheSpottedZebra · 04/01/2020 14:38

Are you going to say it was him driving?
Does he open your post?

Original poster

mayaknew · 04/01/2020 22:56

I was planning on pleading not guilty to both. What puts me off is having to go to court.

Really I wish I could plead not guilty and give them the reasons why but not actually physically have to go to court. It's not like it's my local sheriff court.

OP posts:

BrokenWing · 05/01/2020 00:04

On what grounds are you pleading not guilty to 'failure to declare'? If you did receive the letter (and reminder?) as you said above then I think you are guilty of failure to declare as you were served and didn't respond, you can ask a lawyer to enter mitigation to try to reduce the fine/points if you have strong evidence why responding was a problem for you (although I would expect a judge to ask if you were not able to open your mail, why couldn't your spouse do it for you). This would mean you don't need to go to court.

I would try this route rather than pleading not guilty, going to court, and being found guilty. They don't tend to look favourably on that and may result in a bigger fine.

www.criminalsolicitor.co.uk/legal-guides/failure-identify-driver/

Do you have legal support on your household or car insurance?

Still not sure about the original offence which you were not guilty of, are there no instructions for that in the letter?

IM0GEN · 05/01/2020 15:30

Your dh is not a dead chill guy, he is an unsupportive arse. He could work this all out on Google himself and relieve your anxiety. I hope he had some redeeming features

This. He has caused at least part of this problem by committing the driving offence.

He has then exacerbating it by ( I’m guessing ) not opening your mail and dealing with it punctually. Again I’m assuming it’s his job to open your mail as you are too unwell / disabled to do so. Or do you have paid carers or another family member who does this ?

Why is he taking no responsibility for this problem ? Is he very wealthy?

I’m not a lawyer. So I’m confused as to why you are pleading not guilty to an offence which you did commit.

Is you husband pleading not guilty to the driving offence ?

Original poster

mayaknew · 05/01/2020 16:26

There is absolutely no way I would take points for dh or deliberately mislead the court. It didnt even occur to me it would look like that. It's just not worth my professional registration. Not that I would lose it for this but if I lost my licence it could put it in jeopardy and would have a massive impact on my ability to do my job even if I kept my job.

But I dont know how I would prove that? I mean I could prove I rarely open letters as I have months of them hidden so I could show them i suppose? But would they even care?

OP posts:

Original poster

mayaknew · 05/01/2020 16:28

Wrong thread meant to post that in the one I posted in legal.

OP posts:

IM0GEN · 05/01/2020 19:32

No one on this thread has suggested that you say that you were driving the vehicle. Are you able to drive at all, or do your health problems / disabilities preclude that ?

I’m not sure I understand how you are well enough to hold down a job but so disabled that you can’t open letters.

Or are you saying that you are in fact able to open letters, you just chose not to ?

seltaeb · 05/01/2020 19:52

Normally if the registered keeper does not respond to the letter asking for information about the driver a reminder is sent. If there is no reply to that either then the vehicle keeper is likely to be charged with failing to identify the driver, which carries 6 points and a fine. As with any offence a guilty plea at the first opportunity reduces the penalty (fine) by one third, the points would remain at 6. Fines are based on income. The usual fine for this offence is band C, 150% of weekly income (or 100% if reduced for early guilty plea). The assumed weekly income is £440 if you do not let the court know your income. It would be sensible to get legal advice before pleading not guilty as if the letters were delivered but you ignored them it is likely you would be found guilty.

BayandBlonde · 05/01/2020 20:02

The letters would have been addressed to you. I'm sorry (and this will sound harsh) but ignorance is not a defence. The court will most likely class ignoring the letters, even because of illness, as ignorance. Unless you can demonstrate that you were totally, physically or mentally unable to open your post. This will be difficult as you were still able to undertake your professional job role.

Plead guilty to not disclosing the driver and not guilty to the offence. Obviously you will need to disclose the drivers details in court

Original poster

mayaknew · 05/01/2020 20:02

I am absolutely in no way disabled and I dont think i implied that i was? Just having a bad year with low mood and anxiety. Nothing I want to go into here.

OP posts:

Lulualla · 05/01/2020 20:06

Do you still have months of letters hidden around the house unopened? Surely this was a wake up call and you should start opening all the letters and sort yourself out.

BayandBlonde · 05/01/2020 20:09

Months of hidden letters!

Maybe going to Court is what you need, give you a bit of a shake up. The judge will probably give you a rollocking for being irresponsible with your mail, it should never have got to this. They get mad over wasted time and costs. They aren't going to hold your hand and say 'there, there'

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