Best way to deal with an unresponded Notice of Intended Prosecution

dooley157

My 78 year old mother accidentally ran through a red light. She says she was distracted by a nearby car wandering over into her lane. Regardless of the back story, she has not responded to the NIP within the 28 days. I don't live nearby so can't help with this in person and can't view the notices she has been sent and trying to get her to send a picture of the forms is a trauma in itself!

From what I can gather, she now needs to make a plea either online or by post. If she pleads guilty online (which I'm guessing is her best option), is there an opportunity to give an explanation that may mitigate the fine? Could anyone tell me how much the fine and no. of points on her license is likely to be at this point having not responded to the original NIP? 

Any advice would be welcomed!

Thanks in advance!

Herzlos

It'll be points either way; 3 for the red light OR 6 for failing to identify the driver. I can't remember the fine amounts offhand.

Unless she has a good reason for not replying to the NIP in time, it's probably going to be the 6.

TooManyPoints

From what I can gather, she now needs to make a plea either online or by post.

You need to gather a bit more than that.

Has she been served with a "Single Justice Procedure Notice"? If so, what charge(s) does it mention? If she has been charged with the red light offence and failing to provide driver's details she needs to proceed with caution. On no account should she simply plead guilty only to the red light charge. It's a route to nine points. At present she cannot be convicted of that offence as they have no evidence she was driving (assuming she was not stopped at the time).

There is a set procedure for dealing with this situation which always works. Tell me what she has and I'll tell you how to proceed.

lemondrops69

If she hasnt sent back the NIP she cant be charged with the red light offence as they dont know who was driving. Failing to provide driver details is 6 points and a £600 fine, though the fine might be more or less depending on income.

One way to lessen the points and costs it to attend the SJPN but see the prosecutor before hand as usually if you plead guilty to the  lesser offence (red light offence 3pts £100) they will drop the failure to provide drivers details charge 6 pts £600

TMP may have other thoughts?

TooManyPoints

lemondrops69 said:

TMP may have other thoughts?

No, those are my thoughts exactly. But we need to know what the OP's mother has actually received.

ontheroad1970

lemondrops69 said:

If she hasnt sent back the NIP she cant be charged with the red light offence as they dont know who was driving. Failing to provide driver details is 6 points and a £600 fine, though the fine might be more or less depending on income.

One way to lessen the points and costs it to attend the SJPN but see the prosecutor before hand as usually if you plead guilty to the  lesser offence (red light offence 3pts £100) they will drop the failure to provide drivers details charge 6 pts £600

TMP may have other thoughts?

She wouldn't be able to attend a single justice hearing.  She would need to opt for a court hearing and approach the prosecutor and offer to plead guilty to the underlying offence in exchange for dropping the Failure to Furnish.  That's if it has got to that stage.  

If it isn't so far past the 28 days she could possibly respond apologising for the delay.

Car_54

lemondrops69 said:

If she hasnt sent back the NIP she cant be charged with the red light offence as they dont know who was driving. Failing to provide driver details is 6 points and a £600 fine, though the fine might be more or less depending on income.

One way to lessen the points and costs it to attend the SJPN but see the prosecutor before hand as usually if you plead guilty to the  lesser offence (red light offence 3pts £100) they will drop the failure to provide drivers details charge 6 pts £600

TMP may have other thoughts?

Where do you get the figure of £600? The fine is entirely income-based.

TooManyPoints

She wouldn't be able to attend a single justice hearing...

Indeed not. But if a response to the SJPN is made indicating a not guilty plea, the case would be taken out of the SJ procedure and listed for a hearing in the normal Magistrates' Court.

During the pandemic most courts dealt with this "plea bargain" remotely (provided the defendant indicated, in his SJPN response, his willingness to plead guilty to the underlying offence on the condition that the FtP charge was dropped). Some areas continued with this process for a while and although I believe one or two still do, most of them have now reverted to the matter only being dealt with in person. However, it's always worth mentioning this willingness in response to the SJPN (when pleading not guilty to both charges) as it may avoid the bother of a trip to court. 

Where do you get the figure of £600? The fine is entirely income-based.

I imagine from the calculation where no details of the defendant's means are known. In that case a default income figure of £440pw is used, resulting in a fine of £660 (where either no plea is entered or a conviction is recorded following a trial). On top of this there will be £264 "Victim Surcharge" and around £90 costs. So in excess of £1k - that's why it's important to avoid such a conviction wherever possible (apart from the insurance implications).

Of course we still don't know what has been received and what the charges are.

lemondrops69

Car_54 said:

lemondrops69 said:

If she hasnt sent back the NIP she cant be charged with the red light offence as they dont know who was driving. Failing to provide driver details is 6 points and a £600 fine, though the fine might be more or less depending on income.

One way to lessen the points and costs it to attend the SJPN but see the prosecutor before hand as usually if you plead guilty to the  lesser offence (red light offence 3pts £100) they will drop the failure to provide drivers details charge 6 pts £600

TMP may have other thoughts?

Where do you get the figure of £600? The fine is entirely income-based.

I thought £600 was the starting point, then adjusted to income
(Just read TMP's post, sorry, its £660 starting point, so was £60 out)

Oh and I did write 'though the fine might be more or less depending on income'. Sorry if it wasnt clear enough