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Questionable questionnaire
I have just received a Notice of Intention to Prosecute from Essex Police. This states that I have exceeded a temporary limit of 50 miles an hour on a motorway road works section on the M25, which was recorded by an average speed limit. This refers to the alleged time of approx 21.30. However, I know for a fact that I was not on this section of the M25 on that day and time and have rarely visited Essex. Accompanying the notice is a photocopy of what seems to be my registration number, although the last letter could be an F that looks like a P or someone has reproduced my number plate and cloned my registration number. The forms supplied only allow me to tick boxes that ask whether I was the driver or if I was not, who the driver was. As the car was parked at home and I have not let anybody use my vehicle, I would like to contest this. However, there is no provision for my statement of the facts. They claim the offence carries 6 penalty points, even if I don’t name the driver. What action should I take? I would be grateful for a reply at your earliest convenience, as there is also a time limit.
Asked on 14 August 2010 by AP, Tunbridge Wells
Answered by
Honest John
Legal Advisor, Lucy Bonham Carter wrote: "Plate copying in this way is not uncommon, particularly in the London area where there is a great deal of ANPR and people use it to avoid parking, congestion charge, speeding and no insurance offences. All they do is spot a car of the same make and colour and get someone to make up the plate.
Getting plates made up is more difficult than it used to be but not by much and any criminal would know where to get one. Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act does make it an offence to fail to name the driver but there are a number of defences and obviously if the car was not yours and the plate copied then you can defend the case. In cases like this the normal procedure is for you to write to them and explain the problems you have, stating that this is your number plate but it is not your car and you believe the plate has been copied. They will normally send out an officer with a photograph of the vehicle so a detailed comparison can be made. There are a surprising number of visual checks that can be made on seemingly identical vehicles to prove it was not your car. Once you have filed your defence, then, assuming the police accept your version of events, a caution will be placed on the plate and it is much easier to deal with future tickets - you can normally expect a flurry of them as plates are copied to specifically permit the driver of the other car to undertake illegal acts.
If for some reason the Fixed Penalty Office persist with the case then as long as we can show it is not your car then you have a defence to the case and will be acquitted.” (It later turned out that the plate of the offending car had been modified by a bolt head that made an ‘F’ look like a ‘P’.)
Getting plates made up is more difficult than it used to be but not by much and any criminal would know where to get one. Section 172 of the Road Traffic Act does make it an offence to fail to name the driver but there are a number of defences and obviously if the car was not yours and the plate copied then you can defend the case. In cases like this the normal procedure is for you to write to them and explain the problems you have, stating that this is your number plate but it is not your car and you believe the plate has been copied. They will normally send out an officer with a photograph of the vehicle so a detailed comparison can be made. There are a surprising number of visual checks that can be made on seemingly identical vehicles to prove it was not your car. Once you have filed your defence, then, assuming the police accept your version of events, a caution will be placed on the plate and it is much easier to deal with future tickets - you can normally expect a flurry of them as plates are copied to specifically permit the driver of the other car to undertake illegal acts.
If for some reason the Fixed Penalty Office persist with the case then as long as we can show it is not your car then you have a defence to the case and will be acquitted.” (It later turned out that the plate of the offending car had been modified by a bolt head that made an ‘F’ look like a ‘P’.)
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