TV Licence/Court Summons

yangptangkipperbang

ThumbRemote wrote: »

As an aside, I'm amazed that after nearly 12 hours of this thread, the resident 'don't pay the TV licence' nutter brigade haven't arrived yet.

......hang on ........I hear the sound of horse's hooves................:D

timbstoke

ThumbRemote wrote: »

As an aside, I'm amazed that after nearly 12 hours of this thread, the resident 'don't pay the TV licence' nutter brigade haven't arrived yet.

I would probably count as part of that brigade, but then I don't watch TV so am perfectly legal with my lack of license. The OP admitted that he had a period where he was watching TV and was unlicensed, so he's pretty much bang to rights.

That said, having read through the thread, there are valid points being made. If the summons does indeed specify present tense, and OP can prove that they were in fact licensed at the time of the summons, then a Not Guilty plea is very much in order, AS LONG AS the OP is confident that they are articulate enough to present that argument simply and clearly. Arguing over semantics is very much a part of fighting a legal case, but there's a fine line between successfully arguing your point and irritating the magistrate.

mttylad

TBH I think that there is more to this than has been said.

DD's are paid direct by the bank and not by the OP so illness has no effect on them.

We are told nothing about proceedings prior to the court letters, surely TVL send out letters prior to that?

IMO the OP needs to explain more.
If the DD was being paid previously then missing a month does not mean the OP was unlicensed for the month that the DD was not paid as the license when paid by DD is paid in advance.

Humphrey10

mttylad wrote: »

TBH I think that there is more to this than has been said.

There must be - I was about a month late with my TV licence every year, I know quite a few other people who are often late too, all due to being disorganised. All that happens is that when you go to renew your TV licence, the start date is in the past (it starts the day after your previous one expired, even if you are late paying) - there is no court summons.
I think there is something the OP isn't telling us...