tv licence court summons

spacey2012

People will want you to fight their grudges with TVL through you.
The practical situation is :
you have signed a confession statement in front of a witness , upon that statement it was made very clear what you were signing.
This can not be excluded from the evidence as it is not your evidence but the prosecutions.

Arguing you did not know that this is what you were signing is not going to work and will only multiply the court costs.
Ignorance is no defence.

Your options are to mitigate your costs by pleading guilty at the first hearing and offering an apology, this is not a sixth form common room arguing discussion, it is a signed confession of a criminal offence which is witnessed by a second signatory that is to be presented to a court.

Signing anything that you are not aware of it's implications is most foolish, but as this is deliberately excluded from formal education, you are not the first and wont be the last.
The points raised on the board about what constitutes an offence are useless as you have already confessed and signed.

The court will not accept the "I did not know that was what I signed" argument.
Please do yourself a favour, mitigate your costs in court and your fine.
Learn and learn quickly never to sign anything again that if you do not understand what it is you seek legal advice upon the document before signing.

Signing anything is optional, but once you do sign it is taken that you knew what you were signing .

Same applies to all, educate and inform.
Never sign paper work given to you at your door from TVL, Capita, or anyone else investigating anything, close the door, do not give your name or confirm any name they have, lock the door and wait until they have left.

But once you have given them a name and signed to it, the game is over and you need to move to limiting the damage you have caused.
Whilst ever that document is in the court evidence, you are going to have the charge found proven.

Please never sign anything again unless you know exactly what it is.
Please warn everyone else.

halibut2209

Fire_Fox wrote: »

you are at risk of a criminal record

You don't get a criminal record for not paying for a TV licence. You don't need to declare it, and it doesn't come up on CRBs

piglet74

So much conflicting advice

U will / won't get a criminal record
Fight it / admit it

They should have cautioned u / u should have read it.. I know both these are true.

Its only signed by both of us, myself and tv licence agent

HappyMJ

piglet74 wrote: »

So much conflicting advice

U will / won't get a criminal record
Fight it / admit it

They should have cautioned u / u should have read it.. I know both these are true.

Its only signed by both of us, myself and tv licence agent

It's up to you...Is it worth the fight? You'll need to take a day off work and attend court. The pay that you lose might be more than any fine that you will automatically get if you don't fight it.

Your name will not appear on the police national computer. The police will not know that you have a conviction for TV licence evasion.

spacey2012

There is no need for a caution as this is written evidence which you have volunteered.
The caution refers to using a transcript of what "you say" as evidence.
Why would they need this when they have a signed confession.
The other signature is a witness who can be called at the next hearing to state they witnessed you sign the paper work, it matters not they work for TVL agents , they can be both.
If you plead not guilty, the case will be adjourned for a trial at magistrates Court, costs will be not less than £85 for the first hearing , £170 for the second trial plus witness costs and an application for Solicitors costs, the final "Bill" will be in the thousands with the maximum fine an option.
Any arguments you put forward at the trial will be muted by this document you signed, again and again you will be asked if you signed this document in answers to your points.
Any application to have this removed will only be granted with a valid reason .
Such as mental health incapacitation, Minor status, ward of court status or procedural impromptu practice which would require witnesses evidence.


Yes it is a criminal offence and a criminal conviction .

I am no fan of TVL or Capita, in fact the very opposite, but my advice is to limit your loss, learn your mistake of signing bits of paper and make sure everyone else Knows.
I am not aware of any defence overturning this other than those I have mentioned and if anyone else can post up a case hearing number and transcribe of a successful one, then I would gladly like to see it.

Do yourself a favour IMO and mitigate your damage, this is a money saving forum.

Those that want to argue points via you, invite them to accompany you and defend you in court and meet your financial losses or shut up.

I have no doubt the entire country awaits with baited breath for these people to either "do it" or get off the pot.

piglet74

I don't mind the day off work, I have lots of leave to use up,

The summons just says on 26.10.12 I had no licence it don't mention the aug til oct part,

If I don't go I will just get fined is that right? Any idea how much?

Edit, cross posted I see the fines now

HappyMJ

piglet74 wrote: »

I don't mind the day off work, I have lots of leave to use up,

The summons just says on 26.10.12 I had no licence it don't mention the aug til oct part,

If I don't go I will just get fined is that right? Any idea how much?

Edit, cross posted I see the fines now

You may get a fine. It depends what you offer as mitigation. The offence happened on the 26th October last year and you did not have a television so there was no offence committed. TV licensing can withdraw the prosecution.

http://tv-licensing.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/tv-licensing-threats-and-intimidation.html

piglet74

Thank you all so much for your advice

I just don't know what to do with it all,

If I am going to plead guilty I will not turn up, if I do turn up I will say I didn't have a tv in the premises on that date.

ljonski

I would certainly do a lot of preparation if you are going to go to the court.
http://www.wikihow.com/Represent-Yourself-at-Court-%28UK%29

rehearse meticously , prepare notes and be very careful about incriminating yourself.- Good Luck

piglet74

Yes, that's the thing, there is a good chance I will incriminate myself!!