Speeding fine advice please

k3l10151

My partner got a speeding ticket (34 in a 30 zone). He applied to do a speed awareness course and was accepted. He was only offered 1 date in the 3 month window which he couldn't make so he emailed them to explain, ask for another date and paid for the course.

The next he heard was a court date so he contacted them again, they said this was normal procedure when the course hasn't been completed within the 3 months, and to write to the court citing mitigating circumstances. He did this, and has now received a letter from the court with a much higher fine (on top of the £100 he's already paid) plus 6 points. Can this be appealed? He did everything he was told to do.

Thanks.

stator

Did he turn up to the court date?

Car_54

I suspect there's more to this than we've been told.

First, 34 is below the normal threshold for action, though not impossible.

Second, that speed should never get more than 3 points.

Are you sure he was only charged with speeding?

k3l10151

No, he wasn't asked to go to court.

The initial ticket was a fine plus 3 points, he wanted to do the course instead of taking the points. The new fine and 6 points are for not attending the course. He was only charged with speeding.

Astronaughtwannabe

Firstly, he seems to have paid for the course and not the fine, though he forfeited the fee because he didn't attend.

There is no such offence as 'not attending' so the points are for the original speeding offence only.

He should only have received 3 points for a low level speeding offence, though 34 in a 30 doesn't meet the normal prosecution threshold. As has been said by another poster...are you sure you've got all the correct facts here?

ToriP

What does it say on the paper part of his licence? There should be an offence code on there and the number of points given.

k3l10151

All facts are as stated, there really is nothing else to tell. Haven't got paper licence handy but will check tomorrow. The letter stated that he'd failed to attend the course and therefore would get 6 points and a fine of 280 ish (he's left the letter at work).
So could the points be appealed?

Tilt

AFAIK the offer of the course and the time given is set in stone and can't be changed unless there is exceptional circumstances. Failure to complete (even after payment) normally means you are invited to court to explain.

According to your OP you had a court date so can you tell us what happened at court?

alanrowell

Pay the fine. The longer you leave it the worse it gets.

/end

Iceweasel

Several mistakes have been made here as far as I can see.

It was unfortunate that only one date was initially given but how serious was the reason that he couldn't make it?

He should have moved heaven and earth to do the course - only illness or hospitalisation would be good reason.

So he e-mailed them - was that followed up by a letter?

He was given a court date - that WAS asking him to appear - but he chose to write in as an alternative to attending in person.

Licence not handy.

Left letter at work.

All of the above give the impression that he has not and is still not treating this as a priority.

He has made a mess of this and the quickest and cheapest way out is to pay up - much too late for anything else.

Retrogamer

You either do the course or submit your license for 3 points and pay the £100 fine.

As soon as he realised he wasn't able to do the course, he should have arranged to submit his license for the 3 points and £100 fine.

As he failed to do this (probably assumed the matter would go away as so many do) he got a court summons for failing to comply.

You can either attend in person to make your please. The result will still be a higher fine than the original £100 but you may be able to keep it as 3 points for turning up and making the effort.

Writing in makes it look like you can't be bothered. The summons was due to not complying with the course / original fine so this looks poorly on him and this is why he's received more points and a bigger fine.

With issues like this it's always best to ask for advise before deciding what to do, rather than after.