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Exceptional Hardship Please, Possible Ban
danlovedough
post Thu, 15 Aug 2019 - 10:51
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I've come here for some advice. After going through a very hard time, I only have 1 day left to submit an exceptional hardship plea for a case where I have 2 separate speeding tickets from average speed checks 3 weeks apart taking me from 9 to 15 points.

My main concern is that as these are 2 separate offences, both eligible for a ban, I won't be able to use the exceptional hardship plea on both of them, even though they are being dealt with on the same dates (all of the letters have come at the same time but there is 2 letters and 2 separate case numbers.

I have written a case, but wonder if in the opinion of this group I would be better to go for a discretionary ban?
OR would it be likely that the court would consider dealing with both cases as at the same time and consider my exceptional hardship plea?
I wasn't made aware of the first set of points until the second set had come through, due to the offences being close together in time, and I had moved address so was not receiving the post.

I'm aware it's very late in the day to be asking this but thought worth a shot as I really don't know what to do, (and really don't want to have a driving ban)

Exceptional hardship plea below:

Firstly I would like to state that I take full responsibility and am ashamed of my actions which lead to this penalty. I totally accept the seriousness of driving above the speed limit and am deeply sorry for my actions. I have been dealing with an extremely difficult time following the breakdown of my marriage resulting in me spending half of my time away from the family home for 2 years, and eventually had to sell and move out of my family home shortly before these offences took place, so did not receive notification of the 1st offence until after the 2nd offence happened. Therefore I would like to request that these are dealt with together in the same hearing. This does not take away from how serious these offences are and I can honestly say I have learnt my lesson and will never speed on the roads again.

Dealing with the fear of losing my driving licence and causing extreme hardship to my children, employees and contractors has been overwhelmingly hard. It has made me rethink my approach to driving, and every time I get into the car I am reminded of what a privilege it is to have a car to carry out my role as company Director, to drop off and pick up my children from school, to take them swimming every week, and to ensure they continue to have a good standard of living. Without my ability to drive my family would without a doubt experience extreme hardship as it would negatively affect my ability to work, to pick my children up from school, to take them to the after school activities they enjoy, and to be available to collect my children from school in case of emergencies.

I am a Director of a small limited company DSIV Limited (trading as Digital Growth Hackers) which I have invested all of my savings into and relies on my ability to drive to meet clients and secure new business, along with travelling to client sites to carry out video and photography work. Travelling is one of the main costs associated with running the business as demonstrated in the Company accounts attached (appendix 1)

My company has employed a number of people in recent years, I have attached a full financial statement for the most recent financial year with evidence of £54,241 in staff salaries paid out for that year whom I would not have been able to employ in the event that I were unable to drive. The work I obtain for the company relies upon my ability to drive to meet new and existing clients, and to visit sites for content creation work at rural sites.

For example, one of our clients is The Rolling Door Company (see invoices 1697 and 1685 attached - Appendix 3). For this company, part of my agency’s role as a marketing consultant is to attend sites where their electric rolling garage doors are being installed, and to create video ads and photography of the installation taking place. The Rolling Door Company covers all of Cambridge, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, Hertfordshire and Norfolk. The client will choose the location for me to attend each month and create video content for them. Without a car it would be impossible for me to attend these days and the client would need to hire another agency to carry out this work instead. The photography and video work I create is then scheduled and posted by the team in the office, so without that content that work would not exist for the team to carry out.

I also work with a number of contracted agencies, who rely on my ability to obtain and retain business in order to generate their own business income. I have attached a letter from Alex Jenkins, Managing Director of Leading Light Media, a company who we have outsourced work to over the past 2 years (Appendix 2). Alex and his company rely upon work from my agency, work which I would not be able to provide without my ability to drive.

I have provided a full financial statements for the previous financial year of my company, which demonstrate the relevant travel expenses and staff salaries, which account for a large proportion of the costs in the business. (appendix 1)

I currently rent a property in Ipswich where my 2 children, Rafferty Muhs-Stephenson (Aged 8) and Theo Muhs-Stephenson (Aged 11) live with me, with shared custody. The £975 monthly cost of renting the property along with electricity, water, Council tax and food bills are covered by the work which I do with DSIV Limited. If I were no longer able to carry out my duties at work due to not having a driving licence, it would not be possible to continue covering the living costs for my children, as I do not know how they would cope without my support.

Out of school I take my children 3-4 times per week to our local gym for swimming, tennis and basketball, where they have been members since they were born. I believe doing this is good for their fitness and general wellbeing and it would cause great upset and hardship if I were no longer able to drive them there after school and at the weekends. Outside of school, I take my children 3-4 times per week to our local gym for swimming, tennis and basketball. They have been members since they were born and I believe this activity has an extremely positive impact on their lives, improving their overall fitness and wellbeing. If I were no longer able to drive them there after school and at the weekends, I firmly believe this would cause great upset and hardship.

I am responsible for taking them to school every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and every other Monday and Friday. I collect them from school every Tuesday and Wednesday and am currently the main point of contact with the school in case of emergencies. Their mother works as an imaging assistant at the hospital where she is not able to have access to her mobile phone at all times, so it is critical that I am available to answer the phone and be on hand to collect the children in case of emergencies, which can often happen at short notice.

To conclude, my ability to drive is essential to the welfare of my children from both a financial and logistical perspective. I am deeply sorry for putting their welfare at risk due to my actions on the roads, and I am committed to ensuring that a situation like this never happens again.

Attachments:

Appendix 1: Full Financial Statements DSIV Limited Year Ending June 2018
Appendix 2: Letter from Leading Light Media
Appendix 3: The Rolling Door Company Invoices
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post Thu, 15 Aug 2019 - 10:51
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The Rookie
post Thu, 15 Aug 2019 - 11:01
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If both cases are heard at the same time you DO only need the one exceptional hardship plea, that is the precise benefit of having them heard at the same time.

I'm not sure what you mean by both eligible for a ban? Any motoring offence (or many non motoring) can result in a disqualification (aka ban) but if you think these will only attract 3 points then they are highly unlikely to result in a disqualification for the offence, but may as a result of 'totting' which is a process unrelated to the individual offences.

Circa 25% of totting cases result in a successful EH plea (based on the number of people driving on over 12 points) the number that try and fail we don't know.

This post has been edited by The Rookie: Thu, 15 Aug 2019 - 11:03


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danlovedough
post Thu, 15 Aug 2019 - 11:21
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They are both eligible for a totting up ban as I already was on 9 points when these came through (although 3 of those 9 points have dropped off now).
There are 2 separate case numbers and they have not agreed to deal with both cases at once, although all of the communications have come through on the same dates.

Both offences are SP50 (doing 80 and 84 in a 70mph limit)
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The Rookie
post Thu, 15 Aug 2019 - 11:42
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Strictly they are not eligible for a totting ban, the points given in sentencing make you tot, not the offences per se. As such you'll be sentenced for both and then have one chance of a 6 month ban you try to avoid via your EH plea.

1 offence may no longer count for totting, but it stays on your licence for a total of four years, so 'dropped off' isn't really meaningful.





--------------------
There is no such thing as a law abiding motorist, just those who have been scammed and those yet to be scammed!

S172's
Rookies 1-0 Kent

Council PCN's
Rookies 1-0 Warwick
Rookies 1-0 Birmingham

PPC PCN's
Rookies 10-0 PPC's
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danlovedough
post Thu, 15 Aug 2019 - 11:49
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QUOTE (The Rookie @ Thu, 15 Aug 2019 - 12:42) *
Strictly they are not eligible for a totting ban, the points given in sentencing make you tot, not the offences per se. As such you'll be sentenced for both and then have one chance of a 6 month ban you try to avoid via your EH plea.

1 offence may no longer count for totting, but it stays on your licence for a total of four years, so 'dropped off' isn't really meaningful.


OK thanks so much for the quick feedback. I'm going to email them the plea today.

The letters state notice of proposed driving disqualification - "you have been convicted of an offence and the court is considering whether you should be disqualified because of the number of points on your driving record. There are 2 individual letters with the same date and different case and reference numbers.

3 of my points ended their 3 years on the licence 31st October 2018 so will be 4 years 31st October 2019.
The dates of the 2 x speeding offences which carry 3 points each are 1st October 2018 and 20th October 2018.
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The Rookie
post Thu, 15 Aug 2019 - 11:55
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Where the two letters in one envelope? Have the court already realised you are the same defendant?

So you've already been sentenced for the offences then.

The fact one offence no longer counts towards totting is, as I think you know, of no relevance at all.

It's worth reminding the court that you will be driving on 15 points for X years and Y months until you will no longer be one offence away from a disqualification and that it will act as a constant reminder (and hopefully it will!).



--------------------
There is no such thing as a law abiding motorist, just those who have been scammed and those yet to be scammed!

S172's
Rookies 1-0 Kent

Council PCN's
Rookies 1-0 Warwick
Rookies 1-0 Birmingham

PPC PCN's
Rookies 10-0 PPC's
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danlovedough
post Thu, 15 Aug 2019 - 11:57
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They were in separate envelopes. I will be driving on 15 points until 31st Oct 2019 and on 12 points until March 2022 if they are able to allow me to continue driving.
Do you think the exceptional hardship plea has a chance of being successful?
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The Rookie
post Thu, 15 Aug 2019 - 12:02
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Frankly your plea is rather full of emotion, EH is fact based, its damn hard work, keep it to the facts, but it has the basis of a good plea.

For example "Dealing with the fear of losing my driving licence" is just flannel.

As an aside, worth a read https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-...e-a9056531.html

This post has been edited by The Rookie: Thu, 15 Aug 2019 - 12:03


--------------------
There is no such thing as a law abiding motorist, just those who have been scammed and those yet to be scammed!

S172's
Rookies 1-0 Kent

Council PCN's
Rookies 1-0 Warwick
Rookies 1-0 Birmingham

PPC PCN's
Rookies 10-0 PPC's
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danlovedough
post Thu, 15 Aug 2019 - 12:15
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QUOTE (The Rookie @ Thu, 15 Aug 2019 - 13:02) *
Frankly your plea is rather full of emotion, EH is fact based, its damn hard work, keep it to the facts, but it has the basis of a good plea.

For example "Dealing with the fear of losing my driving licence" is just flannel.

As an aside, worth a read https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-...e-a9056531.html


Yes, thank you for this. Will remove the fear of losing part.
It has been very emotional, the fear of losing my licence really has been quite overwhelming.. this has been dragging out through all of 2019 and really messed with my head in many ways. I have a tendency to overthink things and every time I get in the car I'm reminded of my stupidity in going over the speed limit.

Whatever the outcome this experience has made me totally think my approach to driving.
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TonyS
post Thu, 15 Aug 2019 - 14:47
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QUOTE (danlovedough @ Thu, 15 Aug 2019 - 12:57) *
They were in separate envelopes. I will be driving on 15 points until 31st Oct 2019 and on 12 points until March 2022 if they are able to allow me to continue driving.
Do you think the exceptional hardship plea has a chance of being successful?

For totting up purposes you are on 12 points just now. However there's little practical difference until you drop below 9 active for totting.
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