Late notification of intended prosecution

losgiganteskid

Just been round to see my neighbour he shows me an intended prosecution notice he received Sat last 15th Aug post marked from the Police the 14th Aug for an alleged speeding offence that occurred in mid May - where the police are asking him to declare the driver at the time. As several people drive his car he is unsure as to who would have been driving at that time some 12 weeks ago. Any thoughts ?? - in any event I thought a NIP had to be received within 14 days

Retrogamer

There may have been a delay in this person getting the NIP if the V5 isn't logged in their name, or is logged at an old address.

They can contact the constabulary that sent out the NIP and request photos to help aid in identifying the driver. They usually send these out but they are not required to.

If your neighbour doesn't name a driver within the time scales though it'll be a bigger fine and 6 points.

Aretnap

It only has to be served on the registered keeper within 14 days. If it's a lease or company car he won't be the registered keeper and the 14 day rule doesn't apply to him. It also doesn't apply if his details weren't correctly recorded with the DVLA at the time of the offence, eg if he'd purchased the car recently, or if he'd recently changed address. One way or another there'll be a reason why it's late.

In any event even if the 14 day rule does apply a late NIP gives the driver a defence to the speeding charge, but doesn't absolve the keeper of his responsibility to name the driver. He must still either name the driver or show that he was unable to do so with reasonable diligence. If he doesn't he risks 6 points and a hefty fine for failing to provide driver details.

enfield_freddy

yup 14 days , unless he was stopped at the time of the event


however the new request to name the driver might cause some problems , if he fails to do this , its a mighty 6 points and upto £1000 fine.


regarding the speeding , they only have 6 mths to bring this charge to the attention of the court , and looking at the timing , I don,t think playing "pingpong" mail would get you to the 6 mths breakoff point


I don,t think saying A,B,c were the drivers would help , however if he felt that A, was the driver , he could then name them , who would decline the offer , and suggest B,


this might time it out , although the main question is , why no letter within 14 days , followed up by a reminder and the form he now has a month later.


is it possible that the offence date is wrong?

losgiganteskid

This is his own personal car which he bought earlier this year from a main dealership - they arranged for the registration document to be put in his name

losgiganteskid

No he wasn't stopped at the time - getting the letter on Sat was the first he knew of the speeding prosecution - he has no reason to believe that the alleged date of the offence was wrong - but as to the driver is it reasonable to remember who was driving your car back in May ?

TonyMMM

losgiganteskid wrote: »

This is his own personal car which he bought earlier this year from a main dealership - they arranged for the registration document to be put in his name

The he should look at the registration document (the V5C) and check the docref date - that is when the details were updated - if that was before the date of the offence, he may have a potential defence, but I bet it wasn't.

ChumLee

losgiganteskid wrote: »

This is his own personal car which he bought earlier this year from a main dealership - they arranged for the registration document to be put in his name

And he has a V5 in his name does he?

TonyMMM

losgiganteskid wrote: »

No he wasn't stopped at the time - getting the letter on Sat was the first he knew of the speeding prosecution - he has no reason to believe that the alleged date of the offence was wrong - but as to the driver is it reasonable to remember who was driving your car back in May ?

Are all these possible drivers insured to drive his car .... ?

He needs to look at where the offence occurred, the time of day and any other info he can think of to work out who it was. There is a possible defence if he can show that he can't name a driver, but courts set the bar for that one very high.

ChumLee

enfield_freddy wrote: »

yup 14 days , unless he was stopped at the time of the event


however the new request to name the driver might cause some problems , if he fails to do this , its a mighty 6 points and upto £1000 fine.


regarding the speeding , they only have 6 mths to bring this charge to the attention of the court , and looking at the timing , I don,t think playing "pingpong" mail would get you to the 6 mths breakoff point


I don,t think saying A,B,c were the drivers would help , however if he felt that A, was the driver , he could then name them , who would decline the offer , and suggest B,


this might time it out , although the main question is , why no letter within 14 days , followed up by a reminder and the form he now has a month later.


is it possible that the offence date is wrong?

Well in that case they wouldn't be asking the identity of the driver would they?

enfield_freddy

separate offence , speeding is one offence , failing to name a driver is a separate and more costly offence


I suspect the reg doc to throw some light on this,


what date did he buy the car


and more importantly , what is the date that is shown in the V5?


if this "gap" is about the time of the offence , the police will have written to the last owner , who might have been the garage (or not) then the garage , before arriving on his mat