Case Dismissed Due to Error Made by the Prosecution

Our client had received a visit from the Bailiff informing him that he had been fined and ordered to pay Court costs and a Victim Surcharge totalling £881 in respect of his failing to provide the identity of the driver of a vehicle, of which it was shown that he was the registered keeper.

Our client did not own the car which was the subject of the request. We contacted the Court on our client's behalf and arranged for the case to be re-opened under what is known as a Section 142 Procedure. We wrote to the Prosecution who confirmed that an error had taken place and that if the Court agreed to re-open the case, they would offer no evidence.

We dealt with all correspondence and thereafter attending at Court to make the application. The application was successful enabling all enforcement procedures to be dropped. There were no points endorsed on our client's licence. A defence costs order was made from Central Funds and our client's driving record remains intact.

Moral of the Case

The Police send out requests to identify the driver of a vehicle where an offence has been committed and they have the number plate of the vehicle. Some people put malicious details on the form, as a result of which that person is summoned. The Summons may go to an incorrect address and the person would never know of the existence of the Summons, therefore the case could be proved in absence, as in the present case.

The important thing is not to panic but to take advice as the matter can be looked at and taken back to Court and, in this case, dismissed.

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