Driving Offence Not Committed By Dh But Someone Stole His Identity, What Can We Do?

[RosieCornwall]

At the end of January 2014, my DH received a letter from DVLA asking him to send his licence in to have points added to it following being found guilty of running a red light in his absence. He called DVLA and they said that it related to an offence committed in June 2013 over 200 miles from our home. He told them that it wasn't him but they told him that regardless of who it was, he had to send his licence in. He contacted the Court that he was found guilty at and they told him to go our local magistrates court with proof that it wasn't him and swear a stat dec, which he did. A week after he swore out the stat dec, the original court sent a letter telling him that he had to pay £304 in fines or a warrant would be issued for his arrest. We wrote back to the Fines Office and explained about the Stat Dec. Nothing more was heard until last Tuesday when a big envelope plopped through the door. It was a postal requisition from the original court asking him how he wished to plead to the driving offence. Obviously not guilty! But this is where it starts to defy belief. Someone has given his name, a false address, his DOB and his drivers licence number and signed (as him but not his actual signature) to say that they/he was the driver of the vehicle and admitting the offence. We phoned the court and said again that it wasn't him and this document is forged but they aren't listening and said he either turns up to plead guilty on the day stated or sends back his not guilty in writing, in which case a date will be set for trial and he will have to prove it wasn't him! The facts of the offence are that the offence took place 207 miles (google mapped it) from our home address at 20.57 in the evening. He has proof that he didn't swipe out of work until 18.02 that evening and also his bosses have written a letter confirming his attendance at work all that week, as well as emails that he sent that day, the IT guy is arranging to show that those emails were definitely sent from the work IP address. I have told my DH that I am sure that the burden of proof is on the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that it was him and the fact is that even if he left work and went straight to the train station and caught a train, that would take him to the centre of London and he would then have to make his way to where the offence was committed which is 42 miles from Euston station (where trains arrive from where we live). I don't think realistically, it's doable in the 2 hours and 55 mins available to him as he would then have to collect this car (that he's never seen or driven) and drive around an area that he's never been too in his life. However, we are worried about this, not least because of the cost of the fine and also the fact that he shouldn't have to have points on his licence for something he hasn't done.

Has anyone here got any thoughts, or advice? We did contact the police who initiated all this to say that document that they had received with his details was a forged document but all they said was that it was in the hands of the court now and the court would decide if this ID theft/forged document needed to be followed up, depending on the outcome of the case!

[EDDIE51]

RosieCornwall, your answer at 16.57 makes me sure there is another car (200 miles or so away) with a copy of your husbands number plate.
Going back to your first reply at 23.38 on the 1st April shows why you need a solicitor, the police have possible evidence of further harresment by your son yet refuse to do anything about it as '' It was in another police area''. I would get the solicitor to make a formal complaint to the police about that as well as preparing for the court hearing.

[RosieCornwall]

The document that was falsified has the make and registration number of the vehicle involved and the vehicle is a different make and year to my husband's car completely. I am going to give the solicitors that I have already spoken to until midday tomorrow to come back to me and if they don't, then I shall find another one as I feel that you and New Judge are completely correct in what you are saying, that we need to have a solicitor involved now, in order to make sure that something is done about this once and for all and also to put some pressure on whoever needs to be pressured to make sure that the connection is made between this offence (that used an address that my son is known to use) and the long running harassment that we have been subjected too. If nothing else, once we prove hubby's innocence, and my son's guilt, we may be able to recover our costs using the civil court system, although right now, my faith in the UK justice system is zero!

[EDDIE51]

just a point ^^ the other car does not need to look like or ne the same model as your DHs car just to have the same number plate. The number is all that a would be used to identify the car from a photo. But then again the DVLA should have picked up that your car did not match the description of make and model given by the offender or on the photo ( they have the details of your cars make colour and model in the records) yet another lead to follow.

[joko]

this must have happened before - otherwise every time someone commits an offense they can just write down any random persons name and address, out the phone book, and get away with it!

[ladybirder]

Rosie have you taken up lcg's suggestion and checked you don't have legal cover under your home insurance? I didn't realise I had it when I needed a solicitor once but I found I had when someone suggested I check. I was speaking to a solicitor on a Saturday afternoon within 5 minutes.

[RosieCornwall]

Eddie, the car rego number is definitely different to my husband's car.

Joko, it wasn't a random stranger, it was an estranged family member who has been harassing myself and my husband continuously.

Ladybirder, I have already checked with both house and motor insurance and we don't have legal cover on either unfortunately, but we have a solicitor and barrister involved now who have both agreed to cap their charges due to the situation we are in and the long running harassment. The solicitor is determined to see justice done, so finally I feel that someone is on our side.

[EDDIE51]

Great news , well done, please let us know what happens.

[Hopkirk]

Is your OH in the RAC?

That gives legal cover now - a recent addition to their benefits.

[RosieCornwall]

Thank you for the reply Hopkirk but sadly we don't have RAC or AA cover, as we have a friendly mechanic.

[ladybirder]

Oh that's good news Rosie, I hope it all goes well for you and your DH. Do let us know when it's sorted. Good luck.

[RosieCornwall]

Thank you so much for all your kind wishes and I will certainly keep you updated as things progress. TBH, it's been a horrific few years with the harassment and this is the cherry on the Bakewell Tart xxx

[joko]

the point i was making is that this is not the first time the courts will have seen this happen, and if they just charged the name they had then people would just give in wrong names all the time ...

[RosieCornwall]

Hello All. I thought I would update you all on the situation. We retained a solicitor and after much to-ing and fro-ing with the CPS, Police and Courts, the charges have finally been dropped today and an email was sent by the Police to the solicitor.

Thank you to you all for your support, help and guidance. The police have decided that they aren't going to pursue the driver of the car, which we are disappointed in but a friend of mine suggested that we try to get the costs of the solicitor back from the police as in the email that was sent, they acknowledged the Statutory Declaration that my husband had made in February. I'm not sure how successful that would be in recovering costs from the police but we are just thankful that this whole episode is over now.

[EDDIE51]

Glad it has been sorted out for your husband, but from what you say
'' the police have decided that they arn't going to persue the driver of the other car'' this could all start again ( I hope it does not) . As I see it now the other driver has got away scot free with fraud just because the police can't be bothered to investigate.

[RosieCornwall]

The solicitor did point this out to the Police and the CPS when they made this decision not to pursue the driver of the vehicle and he also pointed out that the perverting the course of justice was a serious offence. It beggars belief that they would spend so much money on pursuing an innocent man but actually not want to bother with an identity theft and perversion of justice. The joys of the UK legal system!