Speeding Fine but not in area/street of residence

CrazyChemist_2

A friend has received a notice of intended prosecution for travelling at 52 in a 40 limit.

The only problem is he was tucked up in bed at 1:25am (the time of the offence) and over 40 miles away from the location of the "offence".

His vehicle was in the garage at the time of the offence. There is no possibility it could have been stolen then returned. It was most likely captured by a mobile speed camera (judging by a motorcyclists' website with a list of camera locations). I'm not entirely sure how to make sure though - the location is A5 Watling Street, Nuneaton (warwickshire) Southbound (40mph limit).

However, the main point we want to get across is that it was not his vehicle that has been picked up and he was at home at the time of the "offence". I know we can request photographic evidence but obviously the great worry is, has the plate been cloned?

raymond

Get photographic evidence. There are tens of thousands of cloned cars driving around, better this way than if someone had been knocked down in a hit and run by your "cloned" car.

mistyarthur

Even if it is a cloned plate I'm sure the people who have cloned it will not have gone to the extent of getting the same car model/colour etc. so the photograph will show it up as not being your friends car?

crossleydd42

Was he tucked up in bed with someone - an alibi is a help. You can, and should, get a photo of the vehicle from the authority - maybe the vehicle could be identified as not being his, as it looks like a number-plate cloning job. He may have to use a solicitor in the end, but look at this website for some useful background information. Any correspondence with anyone should be by Recorded Delivery.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/westmidlands/series7/car_cloning.shtml

moonrakerz

With some police forces you can view the photos on line - it tells you how to do so on the NIP.

Wig

They do get the same model and colour, there isn't a lot of use doing it any other way (for the criminal). You will definately need to ask for the photos, and I suppose it won't harm to start off as you mean to go on, so tell them from the outset, you are requesting the photos because you believe the vehicle has been cloned.

You might find yourself having great difficulty trying to prove it's not your car, you'll have to look at the shape of the exhaust and look for stickers on the window. position & colour of road tax disc etc etc. Good luck and report back when you have the photos.

Oh and did you mean the garage of the house or the garage (repair shop) having repairs done, it could have been one of the staff borrowing your car.

HugoSP

There is of course the view that if you dig your heels in then they would ultimately have to satisfy the court that your friend is guilty of the offence. Burden of proof and all that.

H

zappahey

There's a fair bit of jumping off the deep end about cloned cars here. It may be a simple mistake. A bloke I know got a parking ticket for his bike because the processing centre read the plate (of a car) wrongly.

Just ask for the photos and take it from there.

Mookfish

raymond wrote:

Get photographic evidence. There are tens of thousands of cloned cars driving around, better this way than if someone had been knocked down in a hit and run by your "cloned" car.

I agree. This is exactly what I said when the following happened.

A relative got 3 tickets for not paying the fee an a toll road in birmingham recently and was making a big fuss about it, even though she could prove she was at work in liverpool within 15 minuetes of the offences.

Mookfish

Here's an idea to prevent this hapening, make sure there is something on your car near the numberplate that is distinctive, then get someone to take a photo of you stood by it with todays newspaper.Okay it may not be definative proof, what with image editing software and the possivility that you may change the distinguishing features of your car, but it's practically free so got to be worth doing.

CrazyChemist_2

Wig wrote:

Oh and did you mean the garage of the house or the garage (repair shop) having repairs done, it could have been one of the staff borrowing your car.

Nah it's the garage at home. In fact being a tandem garage his car was boxed in by his wife's car so if it was his, then his wife's car would have had to be backed out first, parked on the road, then the second garage door opened and then his car nicked, then replaced later on without anyone noticing. The problem with this is that neighbours would have noticed (neighbourhood watch) and also his wife's car is a newer model Peugeot 206 - much faster (and overall better) than a 106. This is to illustrate that it was definitely not his car.

He's in the process of typing a letter to them stating that he was at home at the time as was his car (1:25am!) asking for photographic evidence, to prove that it was not his car. As you say it could be a simple misread index number.