Failure to give information re driver's identity as required

[sparkle01]

I recently received a court summons for the following offence:

Fail to give information re driver's identity as required.

However this was the first I was aware I had been asked to. According to them they sent a Notice of Intended Prosecution on the 30/05/08 for the identification of the driver to be made who was speeding. They then claim they sent a reminder on the 01/07/08.
As I received neither of these I did not respond resulting in a summons being received on the 28/10/08.
What happens now? Do I have to plead guilty or can I plead not guilty and explain why?
Why did it take so long for them to chase this up if the speeding ticket happened on the 25/05/08?
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

[Davethedog]

If you didn't receive them you should be OK.

The onus is on them to prove that you received it, I think one of them should have been sent recorded delivery.

Are you sure no one in your house could have signed for it?

I would contact the court directly and talk to them they are normaly helpful, but remember they have no direct imput so don't lose your temper,

[zebedee1691]

Make sure you attend the court hearing. If you say you didn't receive either of the notifications you can ask to complete a Statutory Declaration which will state that you had no knowledge of the Court Proceedings. This will effectively cancel the prosecution, but proceedings will probably be restarted - giving you a chance to respond this time.

[north star]

I presume that this is a s 172 offence which carries 6 points and a large fine. You may be able to convince the mags that you did not receive one letter but more difficult to prove that you did not receive 2. You have avoided the speeding offence by not responding to the original NIP. The CPS will now be after their 'pound of flesh' with the s 172 offence. You should be thankfull that you are not being persued for both.
Have you moved house recently? Have you had problems with mail delivery in your area recently?

My advice, as always in these motoring matters is to post a question where the expertise lies ( no offence to Davethedog) and that is on pepipoo.com

[sparkle01]

I spoke to the courts who were very helpful and they said to plead not guilty and explain the matter in writing previously and then attend the court hearing.
I have not moved house but I do I live in a countryside area that has had frequent mail strikes this year.
If I never received the letters requesting the information how could I have possibly responded. Surely a recorded delivery where I had to sign for it should have been made. I live with my grandma and she is in all day and has signed for nothing.

[New Judge]

Just a few points which may help.

As zebedee correctly says, the route to go down is to contact the court where the summons is answerable and ask to make a Statutory Declaration that you did not receive the two letters. Beware, that you will have to make this under oath and can be prosecuted for perjury should your declaration prove to be false.

Once your declaration is made the prosecuting authority will have the option to either continue with the original proceedings (in which case they will have to show that the Stat Dec you made was false), or to drop the S172 charge and revert to the speeding matter (which they will only do if you agree to plead guilty to speeding) or to begin the whole process again. They will almost certainly choose the latter and they have six months to bring the prosecution before the court if you fail to respond again to the request for information.

Letters relating to these matters are not sent Recorded Delivery. The prosecution only has to show that documents have been posted, not that they were received.

Far from wanting a �pound of flesh�, Section 172 proceedings are the only way prosecutors have of pursuing registered keepers who fail to respond to the request for the driver�s information. Prosecutions for both failure to give information and speeding are not pursued. Apart from anything else, until the identity of the driver is known no proceedings for speeding can begin. In motoring matters only one lot of points (or a disqualification) for the most serious offence is awarded for multiple offences arising from the same incident.

The only time prosecution for both offences may be considered is if the driver and the registered keeper are different. This is rare because usually by the time the identity of the driver becomes known, the statutory time limit of six months for the speeding prosecution has lapsed.

[Davethedog]

North Star - None taken.

[north star]

The CPS will want their 'pound of flesh' because they cannot now proceed with the speeding charge. Why? Because firstly the OP did not receive the NIP within 14 days of the alledged offence and secondly because the CPS have no one to prosecute for the offence because the S172 was not filled in.

I believe there is a requirement under S172 to inform who was driving as soon as you become aware of the need to do so. So in order to be squeaky clean you should tell. Do not plead guilty to the speeding offence

[New Judge]

If you were driving and you were speeding you should plead guilty to the speeding offence if you are given the opportunity to do so.

Why? Plain and simple. Speeding = Fine of �60 (the prosecution will probably suggest to the magistrates that the fine should be the fixed penalty equivalent) plus 3 points. Section 172 = One and a half week's net income plus six points.

Bit of a no-brainer really.

[sparkle01]

Thanks for all your advice.

I wrote a letter an pleaded not guilty and yesterday the court withdrew it. Do not know now if the police will pursue the original speeding offence will just have to wait and see.

Thanks again