hi wondering if anyone can help me on the 2nd April 2005 i was driving home through my small estate at about 20mph when i got to the little T junction at the top of my close cars parked on both sides i pulled out and behind the car parked on the other side at 5mph and long and behold a cop car was overtaking the van parked the other side. In the most aggresive manner he told me to stay were i was get out of the car as i had in his eyes to quote "just performed the most dangerous piece of driving he had seen in 15 years of being a copper!!" I had my two small children who were now crying in the car in distress. He gave me a right dressing down and wrote me out a producer which i went and did the very next day as i was so shoock up at his manner. All was fine and i thought that was it until this morning when i received a court summons for careless driving outlining for this offence i have to appear in person. I dont know what to do i dont want to plead guilty but i dont want the hassle and stress of it being dragged out. I am a 28yrs female driving for 6yrs with no problems never been in trouble with anything,i never hit nobody or anything and was not speeding its a quiet no through road. Have i a case all suggestion greatly appreciated thanks
|
He should have given you a verbal Notice of Intended Prosecution or the Force in question should have delivered a written one within 14 days.
Go see a brief.
|
If I was being cynical I'd say yer friend the copper is having a lean month and has been going through his old notebooks looking for a few potential prosecutions to make up the numbers.
If I was being cynical.
|
|
|
|
******SNIP******
Firstly, why not write a letter of formal complaint to the Chief Constable, I would state in it how frightend you were due to his aggressive nature. As a 2nd point, I think he should have cautioned you if he was going to report it, but I may be wrong, best advice would be go and see a brief. But what ever you do, DONT LET THIS BULLY GET AWAY WITH IT,
*******SNIP******
There are good and bad in every profession. We do not welcome negative sweeping statement about the Police Force in general. Had there not been some genuinely helpful commentd in your post the whole lot would have gone.
Please refrain from copper bashing in future.
Hugo - BR Moderator
|
|
See a brief.
|
See a brief.
>>
Bex. I note you are new to the forum.
I am sure others will say - Take Puguglys advice
See a brief.
You will not get a better prompt than this and the prompt is free.
|
|
|
|
Most Police seem to thrive on this type of playground bullying
I would say that is a terribly unfair statement.
Oh, and I think you (OP) should see a brief.
|
|
|
|
I've just put "Notice of Intended Prosecution" into Google for you, and a site called Law on the Web has come up with this. You may well need a solicitor, but to save money you could call in to your local police station and hope to get someone co-operative on the desk.
It seems to depend on what the aggressive cop (and I agree you should complain if you can remember clearly what he said) actually said to you. If he didn't actually say he was going to have you prosecuted you should be OK after this length of time.
Good luck!
Notice of Intended Prosecution
When should you get one?
The following offences require (under Section 1 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 - you'll find the whole Act here) that you be given notice of the fact that you may be prosecuted:-
a) Dangerous Driving
b) Careless & Inconsiderate driving
c) Leaving a vehicle in a dangerous place
d) Dangerous cycling
e) Careless & Inconsiderate cycling
f) Failing to conform with the indication of a police officer when directing traffic
g) Failing to comply with a traffic sign
h) Exceeding temporary speed restrictions imposed by s 14 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984
i) Exceeding speed restrictions on a special road
j) Exceeding temporary speed limit imposed by order
k) Speeding offences generally
What form must the notice take?
It can be :-
a) given verbally at the time of the offence, or
b) by a summons being served on the offender within 14 days of commission of the offence, or
c) a notice of intended prosecution, specifying the nature of the offence and the time and place where it is alleged to have been committed, must be served on the offender, or the registered keeper of the vehicle at the time of the offence, within 14 days of the offence.
These provisions are deemed to have been complied with unless or until the contrary has been proved (ie you will have to raise it).
If you have not been given the notice within 14 days (ignoring the day of the offence) then they cannot proceed against you unless an exception applies (see below).
Exceptions & Get Outs
a) No such notice is required if a full or provisional fixed penalty notice has been given or fixed under the Provisions of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988
b) A notice sent by post must be dispatched so that it would reach the driver within the 14 days within the ordinary course of the post. If this is the case then it will have been deemed to have been served even if it is delivered outside the 14 day period.
c) If there is an accident involving the vehicle in question, of which the driver is aware, then the police do not need to provide a Notice of Intended Prosecution.
d) Failure to comply is no bar where the police could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained the name and address of the accused in time for service of the summons or notice within the 14 day period, or the accused contributed to such failure. [These are our highlights - might apply for example if you drive a hire car, company car or you were not the registered keeper]
e) Service of a notice at the last known address of the accused will suffice for good service.
|
I don't quite understand the specifics but
1. Unless you can show very exceptional circumstancs, you won't qualify for Legal Aid for this so you'd have to engage a solicitor on a private client basis.
2. I personally would be reluctant to go in all guns blazing and make a complaint about the officer's behaviour until you've been able to resolve the matter, at Court or otherwise, because that could detract from the key point of whether or not your driving was careless and whether the police officer followed prcoedure correctly. Whether or not you should make a complaint would be a matter for your legal representative and you to discuss in person however.
Any more than that would be getting into the domain of legal advice which, particularly given that this is a criminal matter, would be inappropriate in this forum.
If you're in a larger town, may I suggest looking at the Legal500 recommendations for a crimnal lawyer in your area, although Legal500 is more geared towards corporate than individual clients.
|
Sorry I cannot wave a magic wand...
Certainly legal advice is required and you may wish to consider having a session with a Solicitor from CAB (free) as a first step and to go through certain matters to see if they have been complied with and his/her judgement on the strength of the case..
The High Court have held (O'Connel v Fraser [1963])that a motorists who edged from a park onto a road when the view was obstructed by parked vehicles was guilty of careless driving.
There are two options, dependant on what CAB say:
(1) Plead Guilty. You will be given the chance to state matters of mitigation. By going to Court early and seeking out the Court Duty Solicitor (free) he may well act as your advocate. If you check the Court reports in your local papers you may get some idea what they are fining for careless driving but it is only a guide as each case is different and can depend on the finacial standing of the offender.
(2) Engage a Solicitor from the outset and be prepared to pay his substantial costs together with any fine if he is unsuccessful.
Finally making a complaint against the Police. If I remember correctly nothing will be done until such time as proceedings have been completed. Nevertheless, if you are going to do it do it now as will have more weight.
DVD
|
Sounds like the copper suffers from road rage!
See a brief.
|
Bex,
Do what PU says. See a brief!
--
Adam
|
|
hi thanks for the advice so far i have an appointment with my local cab next week gave him a brief outline of the situation and he seems pretty confident of a positive out come. There was no mention to me of a notice of intent to prosecute and i was not cautioned either,and to go for a momentry lapse of concentration anyway thanks for the help will keep yoou informed of any developments.
|
>>>>> he wrote me a Producer>>>>>>
Has been known for Forces to include NOIP on a RT/1. If you still have the copy make sure it does'nt contain information that you are being reported for the consideration of the question of prosecution for due care or driving without reasonable consideration. If it does then that is a written NOIP in 14 days. If not your brief will be interested.
DVD
|
|
|
|
