Caught Speeding? Points or Fine? Going to Court?

Summons:
A summons is a document issued by a Magistrate's court and normally addressed to the defendant in the case of any legal proceedings. The summons will typically state that the person to whom it is addressed (i.e. the defendant) is subject to legal proceeding against them, and a file (possibly from the police) has been submitted to the court.  It will announce the date by which the addressee must attend court, or respond to the court in writing.  Depending on the outcome of the case, this can result in penalty points on the driving licence of the defendant, or a penalty (typically £60), which normally results from speeding or other driving offences such as passing a red traffic light etc.
 

Laying an information:
In today's society of computer technology, this is done electronically by the police, whose systems link to the court IT systems. Basically, the term 'laying an information' simply means that a prosecuting authority such as the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) or Immigration Agency apply to the court for a summons against a person they wish to have appear in court to answer a charge. In days gone by, an officer (i.e. police officer) attended the court and swore on oath, and gave evidence to the Magistrate(s) i.e. verbally communicating the application to them.

 

Section 1 of the Magistrates Courts Act 1980, as amended by section 31 of and Schedules 30 and 31 to the Criminal Justice Act 2003, gives the full procedure that must be followed, whereby a summons or a warrant may be issued by a Magistrates court.

When an information is laid before a JP (justice of the peace) that a defendant has or is suspected of having committed an offence, the JP has the option to issue-

(a) A summons directed to the named person requiring him or her to appear before a magistrates' court in order to answer the information, or

(b) An arrest warrant, ordering a constable to arrest the named person and then bring him before the magistrates' court
 

Issuing the summons:
Service of the summons can be issued by a JP on a person by:

a) Delivering it to the person whose name appears on it; or

b) Leaving it for him or her with another person at his last known address or usual place of abode; or

c) Sending it by postal service in a letter addressed to him or her at the last known address or usual place of abode.

Maximum Time Limits:
Going to court because of a speeding ticket or speeding fine or any other kind of traffic offence, can mean a driving ban, which you will need to avoid. Section 127 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 provides that "summary only" offences (those which are triable only in the magistrates' court) must be tried within six months of the offence being committed.

Except as otherwise expressly provided by any enactment and subject to subsection (2) below, a magistrates shall not hear a complaint unless the information was laid, or the complaint made, within 6 months from when the offence is alleged to have been committed.

This is big annoyance for the prosecution (i.e the CPS). Because of the statutory maximum times, it is often not possible for them to lay the information within the required period of time. Under certain circumstances, this can be quite an effective way to avoid a summons and therefore avoid points on your driving licence! Speeding tickets or speed cameras can give you speeding points or penalty points which could lose your your licence.

Your main options if you get a summons:
You can normally either respond to the summons as per the instructions contained alongside it, or you can just choose to ignore it. The latter is not recommended.  If you respond to it, you then basically have three further options to consider. These are to plead Guilty, Guilty with Mitigation (i.e. you did it, but you have a reasonable excuse) and Not Guilty. Let us help you to avoid you losing your licence and getting the points...

Guilty:
This means that you admit the offence in full. You did it. You accept you were wrong In most cases the court should be able to finalise the proceedings there and then and without you personally attending court.  For such a minor offence, it's a waste of money to drag you to court when you're only going to accept the details of the case and plead guilty. However, you may attend court if you wish, but this is pretty pointless unless you have mitigating circumstances. No police witnesses are likely attend the court if you plead guilty by post - again, this would be pointless.

Guilty with Mitigation (Mitigation means reason/excuse):
3 points on your licence can have a big effect on your life, so we aim to show you the best way to avoid getting the points, especially those you received as a result of speed cameras or a roadside speeding ticket from a police officer.

This means that the offence is admitted by you, but for one reason or another you think that you had a good or valid reason for committing the offence and you wish for the Magistrates to be made aware of this. For example, you may have been suffering from a heart attack and needed to attend hospital so quickly that you drove through a red light (although it would probably be incorrect to drive under these circumstances so it's not advisable to use this as mitigation!).  The opportunity will then be given to you to explain the circumstances in writing without having to attend court, and send this back as instructed. Again, you may attend court if you wish, police witnesses may attend the court if there is an issue regarding your mitigation.

Not Guilty:
This means that you deny having committed the alleged offence that has been detailed in the Conditional Offer. If a summons is issued, you will be required to attend court in order to give your evidence. This evidence will then be heard by the magistrates court and police witnesses (i.e. officers) will only attend if they are requested to do so. If a guilty verdict is passed, remember that you may have to pay the costs - the justice system does not like people pleading guilty only to be found guilty and costing the tax payer money. The court may impose additional costs if witnesses are called, so be wary of wasting the court's time.

So the choice is yours. If you admit the offence you will be convicted and it is likely that you will be fined.

The current legal guidelines indicate a minimum fine of £60 plus the dreaded 3 points. This does NOT include prosecution costs, which can range widely depending on the court area and the process involved.

This fine level is the same for failing to provide Information (i.e in response to a conditional offer), as it is for excessive speed, so don't hide your conditional offer away and hope that the prosecution forget about it!  If you contest your case and then lose, you will likely incur further prosecution costs and may also receive an increased fine.

You must avoid a driving ban and get off a speeding fine, as this is very serious. Get advice on the court process and how to defend yourself at court and avoid getting a ban or points on your licence.

You could also ignore your summons:
Generally this is really not to advisable as it could mean in an increase in the fine you will have to pay - and this could be a BIG increase. Also, there is the possibility that an arrest warrant may be issued to ensure that you attend court - this isn't a particularly pleasant experience.

That said, the issue of the warrant for a minor motoring offence as an option is falling out of favour with courts, as it causes a lot of hassle. The government intend to reduce the number of warrants as these place an large burden on the criminal justice system, and the police in particular. The magistrates are only likely to issue an arrest warrant if they are considering disqualifying the driver e.g. the defendant is already on 9 points so will "tot up" 12.

This site gives information, advice, help, hints, tips about how to get rid of points from your driving licence, or how to avoid points on your driving license or how to stop getting points on your licence/license/lisence