Signal offence - SJPN

tekie

I was driving in an unfamiliar area of London when I accidentally went past a red light by a few meters. I stopped immediately and reversed back to where I was supposed to be. However, the Metropolitan Police have issued me a letter stating that I crossed the red light. They cannot issue me penalty points or an educational course because I was over 20.5 seconds over the red light. Instead, they have referred me to the Single Justice Procedure (SJPN).

I have a clean driving license and I am not sure what to expect from the SJPN. I have read online that I could be fined up to £1,000 and banned from driving. I am very worried about this and I would appreciate any help with dealing with this situation.

I am not sure if I have any chance of defending myself against these penalties. I have never been in trouble with the law before and I am a careful driver. However, I understand that crossing a red light is a serious offense.

I would be grateful for any advice or suggestions you can offer. Thank you in advance.

HillStreetBlues

Plead guilty, say you're sorry for the laps lapse, get the points (believe it's normally 3)  pay the fine (believe it could e based on earnings)
EDIT my own typo was bugging me.

tekie

When Met Police send me the initial letter to find out who the driver was, I've clearly said that I was the driver and on the same letter they said it could either be a fixed penalty point or I can take the course, but now they have come back with a different option, fixed penalty points and educational course are gone and it went straight to SJPN. I haven't got a clue why they are doing this to me. I never been to courts and I don't have the kind of money to pay 1k in penalty fare.  

CliveOfIndia

HillStreetBlues said:

Plead guilty, say you're sorry for the laps, get the points (believe it's normally 3)  pay the fine (believe it could e based on earnings)

I tend to agree with this.  I don't think you've got any defence to fall back on - if the light had been red for 20 seconds, there's no real excuse, and you might possibly count yourself lucky not to be facing a "driving without due care and attention" charge.

I'm not meaning to belittle you - I know it can be really tricky navigating an unfamiliar town, trying to navigate your route, watch traffic, and keep track of all the road signs!

Odds on you'll just get a fine and 3 points, not the end of the world in the grand scheme of things.

Car_54

tekie said:

When Met Police send me the initial letter to find out who the driver was, I've clearly said that I was the driver and on the same letter they said it could either be a fixed penalty point or I can take the course, but now they have come back with a different option, fixed penalty points and educational course are gone and it went straight to SJPN. I haven't got a clue why they are doing this to me. I never been to courts and I don't have the kind of money to pay 1k in penalty fare.  

They're "doing this to you" because they believe (and you've confirmed) that you've committed a criminal offence. That's their job.

If it had only been a few seconds into the red there might have been the offer of a course or FP, but not at 20 seconds.

As above, your best (only) option is to plead guilty. The fine will be income-related - the £1,000 is the maximum and would only apply if you were a very high earner. There will be a form with the SJPN for you to declare your income.

tekie

Thanks for all your comments, now I have a better idea of what to expect thanks for that.  The only tricky bit now is that I'm going away for 3 weeks and if the SJPN lands within that period I heard there is only 21 days to respond to that letter. I suppose it has to be postal, not electronic, otherwise, I could have asked someone to check the posts for me and reply online with those details.

Car_54

The police have six months (from the date of the offence) to begin the court action, and usually take most, if not all, of that time. You probably won’t see the SJPN any time soon.

Aretnap

HillStreetBlues said:

Plead guilty, say you're sorry for the laps, get the points (believe it's normally 3)  pay the fine (believe it could e based on earnings)

It will always be three points for a red light offence - that's set by legislation. In theory the court could decide to impose a ban instead of points - but in practice that is vanishingly unlikely. One thing the court can never do even in theory is impose four points (or two points, or any other number than three).

Assuming a guilty plea the fine will be one third of the OP's weekly post-tax income, to which he can add something a little north of £100 in costs and "victim surcharge". If he was convicted after a full trial, or didn't respond to the SJPN and was convicted by default, the number of points would still be three but the fine and costs would be a bit higher.

Aretnap

tekie said:

Thanks for all your comments, now I have a better idea of what to expect thanks for that.  The only tricky bit now is that I'm going away for 3 weeks and if the SJPN lands within that period I heard there is only 21 days to respond to that letter. I suppose it has to be postal, not electronic, otherwise, I could have asked someone to check the posts for me and reply online with those details.

Not sure whether it has to be on a dead tree or whether it can be done online, but could you arrange for someone to check your mail after a week and forward you anything official-looking, or send you a scanned copy that you could print out and fill in?

Aretnap

tekie said:

When Met Police send me the initial letter to find out who the driver was, I've clearly said that I was the driver and on the same letter they said it could either be a fixed penalty point or I can take the course, but now they have come back with a different option, fixed penalty points and educational course are gone and it went straight to SJPN. I haven't got a clue why they are doing this to me. I never been to courts and I don't have the kind of money to pay 1k in penalty fare.  

The process is pretty automated. They camera just takes a picture of you crossing the line - it can't distinguish between people who stop a few metres after the line and those who go right across the junction. So the decision on whether to offer a course etc is based solely on how long the light has been red. People who cross a second or so after it changes (amber gamblers) are offered the course, a few more seconds and they're offered a fixed penalty (3 points and £100 like a speeding ticket), many seconds and it's referred to court.

As above £1000 is the maximum not the norm and in practice it will be based on your income - if you do get fined £1000 it will be because you are rich enough to afford it!

TooManyPoints

What have you received from the police telling you you will be receiving a SJPN?

As above £1000 is the maximum not the norm and in practice it will be based on your income - if you do get fined £1000 it will be because you are rich enough to afford it!

No matter how rich you are, if you plead guilty at the earliest opportunity, the most you would be fined is £667.