Pleaded guilty on SJPN but never received fixed penalty offer, Can I appeal a court fine of £507? Options

[something123984]

Hi,

I've only just found this site so I've probably done everything wrong.

I was doing 60 in a 50 in a friends car. It was in Wales if that matters.

The charge in the SJPN:

"On 22/02/2019 at NEWPORT drove a mechanically propelled vehicle, being a vehicle, namely AUDI S3 <plate>, on a special road, namely M4 Jnc 23a to Jnc 24 W/B Gwent, subject of regulations, namely M4 Motorway (West of Junction 23A (Magor) to East of Junction 29 (Castleton)) (Variable Speed Limits) Regulations 2015, at a speed exceeding 50 miles per hour namely 60 MPH -- LEGISLATION: 'Contrary to the above regulations and section 17(2), (3) and (4) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and Schedule 2 to the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988.'

As part of the witness statement on the SJPN:

NOTICE/S.172 FORM ISSUED TO - REGISTERED KEEPER - <name>. 27/02/2019
- COMPLETED S.172 FORM RECEIVED WITH NOMINATION. SIGNED 10/03/2019
NOTICE/S.172 FORM ISSUED TO - DEFENDANT - <me>. 19/03/2019
- COMPLETED S.172 FORM RECEIVED WITH NOMINATION. SIGNED 28/03/2019
SPEED AWARENESS COURSE OFFER ISSUED. 05/04/2019
DECLINE OF COURSE OFFER RECEIVED. SIGNED 15/04/2019
CONDITIONAL OFFER OF FIXED PENALTY ISSUED. 18/04/2019
DEFENDANT FAILED TO RESPOND/COMPLY WITH FIXED PENALTY OFFER

That is mostly correct except I didn't receive the fixed penalty offer. I declined the course and then received the SJPN (posting date 14/08/2019).

I submitted a plea of guilty on 19/08/2019 using the makeaplea service online. I don't have a copy of the exact text but somewhere I stated that I never received the fixed penalty offer.

On 13/09/2019 I received an email with a fine notice and instructions how to pay - £507!

I naively assumed that I would just have to pay the original £85 fine. Also I noted that on the SJPN it says "if you plead guilty using this notice, you'll usually get a 33% reduction in any fine"

Is there anything I can do at this stage to challenge this so that I can just pay the original fine, which I was always willing to do?

Thanks.

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[Jlc]

The 'original fine' was always £100 / 3 points. (You may be referring to the course for £85)

The court should have considered the fixed penalty equivalent sentencing guidance but often need to be reminded... It seems you've been sentenced using the income-related method.

You could formally appeal the sentence or ask for the sentence to be reconsidered (under s142 Magistrates' Courts Act) using the following guidance:

where a penalty notice could not be offered or taken up for reasons unconnected with the offence
itself, such as administrative difficulties outside the control of the offender, the starting point
should be a fine equivalent to the amount of the penalty and no order of costs should be
imposed. The offender should not be disadvantaged by the unavailability of the penalty notice in
these circumstances.

You have 21 days to appeal. Not receiving the CoFP should qualify as administrative issues unrelated to the offence itself.

Also I noted that on the SJPN it says "if you plead guilty using this notice, you'll usually get a 33% reduction in any fine"

Normal sentencing would be around 50% of earnings (discounted by 33% for guilty plea), costs of £85 and surcharge of 10% of the fine (min £30).

A total of £507 would mean earnings of around £1150 pw. (I presume you submitted a MC100?)

This post has been edited by Jlc: Sun, 15 Sep 2019 - 13:02

[something123984]

The 'original fine' was always £100 / 3 points. (You may be referring to the course for £85)

The court should have considered the fixed penalty equivalent sentencing guidance but often need to be reminded... It seems you've been sentenced using the income-related method.

I should have mentioned, they have also given me 3 points.

Yes, there was a statement of means form.

Is there a standard text or way of wording a request to appeal or have the sentence reconsidered? To where and whom would I send it?

Thanks.

[Jlc]

Yup, 3 points is normal.

The Clerk to the Justices
xxxx Magistrates Court

Dear Sir/Madam

On dd mmm 2019 I was convicted of an offence of speeding, fined £507 and given three penalty points. I am writing to request that the case be re-opened under s142 Magistrates' Courts Act as it is in the interests of justice to do so. The reason for this is that the court failed to follow the guidance given in the Magistrates Courts Sentencing Guidelines. I was sent a Fixed Penalty Notice for the speeding offence but it was not delivered. This was an administrative reason unconnected with the offence, the circumstances covered by the guideline referred to above and therefore the starting point for consideration of sentence should have been the equivalent of the fixed penalty, not the guideline for speeding offence, as appears to have been the case.

This post has been edited by Jlc: Sun, 15 Sep 2019 - 18:03

[something123984]

Do you know if email is sufficient? If so, I'm not sure which of the addresses listed I should use - do you know?
https://courttribunalfinder.service.gov.uk/...gistrates-court

Appreciate the help.