Litter Warden Fine wrong name

myukjob85

Hi all

So long story short a friend had a fine for litter from a misunderstanding (long story). She provided all correct details. She received some letters but with wrong name. She did not answer back and it gone to court. Now he have a new letter again with wrong name. So what she can do? is the fine nullified as is in the wrong name?

lincroft1710

Was the name completely wrong e.g. Jane Smith instead of Jane Jones, or partially wrong, e.g Jayne Smith or Jayne Smyth? If the name was completely wrong she could have returned the letters and marked them. "Not known at this address". But as she was aware there was a mistake, she should have contacted the sender.

If she is Jane Smith and the fine is for Jane Jones, then it could be difficult to enforce.

knightstyle

In fact she should not open mail addressed to someone else!   Just put it back in a post box with not known at this address on it.

lincroft1710

knightstyle said:

In fact she should not open mail addressed to someone else!   Just put it back in a post box with not known at this address on it.

Incorrect.

Mail addressed to a third party can be opened, but it must not be to the disadvantage of the intended recipient

myukjob85

so name was 50% wrong. So the surname is wrong, totally wrong ( correct is ICHIM, but on the notice is CHIM )but name is good. The letter has as title ''further steps notice''. And it let her know that she can appeal to the court against the fines officer decision. But what she can do ? is a case of nullity? as the person named does not exist

myukjob85

sorry so correct name is ICHIM and o the notice is KHIM

lincroft1710

I would suggest that it was reasonable to assume the letter was for her, and it was a spelling mistake rather than misidentification. If she continues to ignore this, she may well have a visit from some form of enforcement agency and once she proves her true identity it could result in a fresh summons in the correct name.


At present only the court who issued the fine can determine the rights and wrongs of the case and she may want to contact them to find out her legal position

MaryNB

myukjob85 said:

sorry so correct name is ICHIM and o the notice is KHIM

That just sounds like whoever took her name down put the i and c so close together that it looked like a k.  She could have opened the letter. It would never occur to me to bin a letter if there was a minor typo in my name. I mean it would be hard to argue that she had no idea the letter was for her given it was a minor error and she was expecting a fine. Saying "that person does not exist" is a bit ridiculous. 
I have no idea if the typo has an impact on the littering fine but didnt work out very well in the case of speeding for this person's colleague.

beckstar1975

To be fair that looks like a simple transcription error, someone has read Ic as a K, no idea what that means for the legality of the fine however

Laz123

Years ago I had a parking fine which had the wrong name on it but sent to my address. When I pointed this out to the council they had to cancel the fine. Maybe the law's changed since.

GraceCourt

myukjob85 said:

She received some letters but with wrong name. She did not answer back and it gone to court. Now he have a new letter again with wrong name.

The situation depends on exactly what has happened.  To summarise, only a Court can fine you, so if if this involves a local authority warden alleging that your friend dropped litter, he/she will have a "penalty charge notice" ("PCN"), not a fine.

If this has gone to Court, then what has happened is that the issuing local authority has registered the "penalty charge" with the local Court and payment may be enforced, but only against the individual named on the PCN.  If the letter has been sent from the Court in relation to this incident, then really your friend should take advice about whether or not the Court will or can enforce the registered penalty charge. 

In all honesty, it would have been better if she had challenged the PCN for whatever the grounds were for the "misunderstanding" to which you refer, but the fact that the wrong name has been registered is probably good grounds for now challenging any enforcement.  By comparison, and just for information, if this same mistake was made with the name on a summons to Court for an alleged criminal offence, the summons would almost certainly be withdrawn - although if the alleged offence was not "time-limited", e.g. proceedings against the alleged offender must be commenced within six months, a new summons in the correct name could then be requested and issued.