MikeClev
Mon, 16 May 2011 - 14:56
My partner has been summoned to court for speeding (40mph on a 30 mph zone), and for non disclosure of the driver. However she never received the NIP nor the reminder.
She then received the summons with all the details. However the driver at the time was me, and as she did not receive the NIP and therefore did not know that she was required to name a driver.
The police have sent us details of their processes and the fact that the NIP was sent out, however we are adamant that they never arrived here. We have evidence of other 6 other pieces of mail not arriving, which we know have been sent. Is this a reasonable grounds of defence, and if so what do we need to do?
Pancras
Mon, 16 May 2011 - 15:01
QUOTE (MikeClev @ Mon, 16 May 2011 - 15:56)
My partner has been summoned to court for speeding (40mph on a 30 mph zone), and for non disclosure of the driver. However she never received the NIP nor the reminder.
The police have sent us details of their processes and the fact that the NIP was sent out, however we are adamant that they never arrived here. We have evidence of other 6 other pieces of mail not arriving, which we know have been sent. Is this a reasonable grounds of defence, and if so what do we need to do?
If you can raise reasonable doubt in the mind of the court that you have never received either the original NIP or the reminder then you might stand a chance of defending the matter, however the court will be difficult to convince of this.
What other items of post can you say you have not received? Did you make a complaint to the Royal Mail of this matter at the time? Would the Royal Mail be prepared to verify your claims?
You fight an uphill, but not impossible battle, but given the possible penalty for a Guilty verdict in the region of £600 fine and 6 points, it is worth trying.
Logician
Mon, 16 May 2011 - 15:20
When was the alleged offence of speeding?
MikeClev
Mon, 16 May 2011 - 15:34
Pancras,
The other items are a letter from an insurance company asking for further details on a claim, investment policy documents, feedback for assignments from a university, credit card statements, National Insurance Number notification for my stepson.
jobo
Mon, 16 May 2011 - 15:44
and have you a paper trail, including hopefully a compaint about these, what is the alledged date of the speeding by month not day
MikeClev
Mon, 16 May 2011 - 16:50
The speeding offence was in September 2010, and the missing items have been over the past year. We have not lodged a complaint on each one individually, as we sorted the problems at the time they occurred or were noticed, however the accumulation of missing post has prompted us to lodge a complaint now.
jobo
Mon, 16 May 2011 - 17:08
hmm better late than never, can you at least produce corrispondace picking up the pieces for the lost items ?
your wife cant be prosicuted for the speeding, as they have no proof she was driving, even less so as it was you.
so that leaves her to defend the ftf, based on a postal problem and the fact there was no benifit to her in not repllying as it was you, nb its too late now to do you for the speeding
Pancras
Tue, 17 May 2011 - 10:22
As Jobo says, the instances of lost post over the last year do tend to build up a picture of a problem with your mail delivery. The next step you could take is speak to neighbours in your street to find out if they have had any similar issues. It would be unlikely that a postman would simply fail to deliver just your mail, but it might be a more widespread problem. You do hear press reports of postmen who took post home because they couldn't be bothered to complete their rounds. It is very rare though, and that's why it makes the press when it happens.
You don't have to prove to the court that you didn't get the mail, but you do have to put sufficient reasonable doubt in their minds that this is the case. The problem you face it that they hear these claims all the time, but as you can build up a bigger picture of mail loss, you would stand a better chance than most of convincing them that you are telling the truth.
MikeClev
Tue, 17 May 2011 - 17:22
Thanks for the advice.
I have also spoken to Royal Mail who say they cannot take a complaint from me as I was not the sender. To enable a complaint to be made, they say I have to go to each sender and ask them to make the complaint. This is because
a) They may not have used Royal Mail for end-to-end delivery. "Many" (??) companies now use couriers to pick up from their office and take to Royal Mail for onward delivery.
b) The "contract" with Royal Mail is with the sender, therefore they have to complain.
Once again thanks for the advice. I'm off to talk with my neighbours.
Mike
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