My mate Dave got caught speeding

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Almost 4 months from getting the letter (5 months from the offence, they sent the original letter to work who gave them my info) and nothing back yet.


Just to bring some belated Christmas cheer. My mate Dave (me) was summonsed "back" to court for a speeding offense committed in 2013. This was last year, so four years after I believed it had all just gone away. I posted on here and was directed to the pepipoo.com site where I received brilliant, practical, down to earth help. But I still had to attend court (in person) and represent myself (I could have employed a Solicitor if I chose).

This was after the case (unknown to me) was passed the to the 'Historic Debt Collection Team'. When they contacted me (initially by telephone) they were aggressive, you could shorten it down to "give us the money". I didn't "give them the money" and ended up in court.

I "won" my case but it was not easy for me to do so and involved a lot of research, time and frayed nerves. All for an incident where I had admitted my guilt (speeding in a temporary restriction) and provided proof that I was the driver and owner of the vehicle during the offense. I never heard anything further and assumed that it had 'gone away'. It had not gone away (they rarely do).

Happy New Year.
 
I like the "Happy New Year" bit bruce lol, doh....
 
I like the "Happy New Year" bit bruce lol, doh....

What is interesting in my case. I was eventually not only cleared of any wrongdoing in relation to the unpaid fine(s) but I was also cleared of the original fine which I had pleaded guilty to and would have paid without a fight. It was not (by then) a small sum of money.
 
My brother is a solicitor and when I got caught over 100 up north he said it's more common than people realise, but that was a police car on an overhead bridge, not a fixed camera - and I never did get any paperwork on that one.

That luck didn't hold though as when they did get me it was around 150 late one evening, heading north on the A1; one month suspension and a hefty fine and points.

You were very very lucky that is extremely leniant.
 
What is interesting in my case. I was eventually not only cleared of any wrongdoing in relation to the unpaid fine(s) but I was also cleared of the original fine which I had pleaded guilty to and would have paid without a fight. It was not (by then) a small sum of money.

Do you think the original paperwork 'got lost' and therefore went to court in absentia? From there, of course, it spirals to debt collection.

Ernie
 
Do you think the original paperwork 'got lost' and therefore went to court in absentia? From there, of course, it spirals to debt collection.

Ernie

No the paperwork was never lost. But we have a court system, that when something goes wrong, it cannot adjust, so it just keeps spewing out the same mantra. Once the controls are set they cannot easily be adjusted or turned off. Many give up and pay up. I was at the end of my rope and decided to tough it out and with help from some members here but mainly on the peppipoo website!! I had my day in court. Was it worth it? Yes indeed financially and morally.
 
You were very very lucky that is extremely leniant.

Yes, I know, there was something 'irregular' about what the police car was doing or to be more precise who the passenger was though.

It was way back in the late 90's, in a BMW 750 (formerly Ian MacLaurin's - Baron MacLaurin of Knebworth, company car, when he was chief executive of Tesco, from where I bought it on his '97 retirement) :

7Bmw4 (2).JPG ).

I had driven to Cardiff and back in a day, it was late and I was fed up driving, so once I left the M25 I floored the 750 on an empty A1M;
then suddenly another car appeared and I thought he was racing me - so I just kept going faster and faster to stop it overtaking me for a bit of 'sport' ... :rolleyes:

The policeman was fuming when he spoke to me, because I dropped off the A1M at Baldock to use the A505 and then back road country road/s route, so he had to follow, taking him off his unknown appointed task;
apparently the police had searched my address and had set up separate police car/s to force stop me at the next junction, where they expected me to exit, so the one who did stop me would not be involved at all.

At that time technology was not so advanced and technically two 'qualified' police officers were needed to verify a speed reading.
The car, not being a standard police traffic car, therefore had none of the required 'equipment' for a solo officer speed reading.

The barrister my brother appointed spoke with the prosecutor before the hearing, because the police had already refused to even identify the passenger.
Therefore he argued in the absence of two 'qualified' policemen, or anyone technically 'qualified' to verify the speed/s, the prosecutor theoretically had no case.
They compromised and prosecutor agreed with the barrister that he would simply state 'drove over 20 miles, at times, in excess of 100mph'.

Hence the leniency - the court was never told my actual speed/s - lucky indeed..... :)
 
Has Dave not got anything back still?
 
Nothing yet

I heard somewhere Dave got a new car, apparently something went wrong with it? Has he got it repaired yet? :)
 
I heard somewhere Dave got a new car, apparently something went wrong with it? Has he got it repaired yet? :)

Yea it was a loose connection!!! Loving the car otherwise, just need some nicer weather to take it out in!!
 
Yea it was a loose connection!!! Loving the car otherwise, just need some nicer weather to take it out in!!

Nice one mate, you got a garage to keep it in? Would be a shame to let it sit out in the rain :)
 
Nice one mate, you got a garage to keep it in? Would be a shame to let it sit out in the rain :)

No, it sits out the front where I can admire it lol!!! Come March/April it will get a proper full detail.
 
No, it sits out the front where I can admire it lol!!! Come March/April it will get a proper full detail.

Yeh fair enough, I want to do the same for mine. No garage so can’t be machine polishing out in this freezing cold lol

Be careful with such a lovely car mate If it has keyless etc. Seems to be a lot of car theft going on recently. I’m sure your neighbours must be thinking You’ve won the lottery lol :)
 
Yeh fair enough, I want to do the same for mine. No garage so can’t be machine polishing out in this freezing cold lol

Be careful with such a lovely car mate If it has keyless etc. Seems to be a lot of car theft going on recently. :)

I’ve done everything I can, keyless entry has been disabled ;)... snap proof locks and reinforcement around doors, house alarm always set, shatter proof window film on house doors, CCTV, and I block it in with another car!
 
I’ve done everything I can, keyless entry has been disabled ;)... snap proof locks and reinforcement around doors, house alarm always set, shatter proof window film on house doors, CCTV, and I block it in with another car!

Haha, fair enough. I think you’ll be alright then lol :)
 
Haha, fair enough. I think you’ll be alright then lol :)

I hope so but if someone really wants it then they will do whatever they need to do to get it. I’ve done all I can to put them off but it’s just metal at the end of the day!
 
I hope so but if someone really wants it then they will do whatever they need to do to get it. I’ve done all I can to put them off but it’s just metal at the end of the day!
and some lovely walnut & leather :D
 
That luck didn't hold though as when they did get me it was around 150 late one evening, heading north on the A1; one month suspension and a hefty fine and points.

Only 150? ;)

Not verified but this is a good story nonetheless:

Fastest Speed Recorded?
When two traffic officers in Scotland were running speed checks, little did they know, they could have caused a major security incident.
The two traffic officers - using a hand held radar speed checking device, were shocked to see a recorded speed of over 300 mph for an approaching vehicle. The radar device promptly stopped working and the traffic officers could not manage to re-set it.

Radar Device Picks Up NATO Fighter Jet
It turned out that the police radar "gun" had locked on to a NATO tornado fighter jet, which had been engaged in low flying exercises over the North Sea. The local Chief Constable immediately complained to the RAF liaison officials and received the following reply:
"Thank you for your message, which allows us to complete our file on this incident. You may be interested to know that the tactical computer in the Tornado had automatically locked on to your 'hostile radar equipment' and sent a jamming signal back to it. Furthermore, the Sidewinder air-to-ground missiles aboard the fully-armed aircraft had also locked on to the target. Fortunately the Dutch pilot flying the Tornado responded to the missile status alert intelligently and was able to override the automatic protection system before the missile was launched."

Ref: Fastest Speed Recorded for a Speeding Ticket?
 
Sadly, it's a good story, but bollocks. A Tornado at anything under about about 500 mph has a problem, and is not engaged in "low flying exercises".

Secondly, Sidewinder is a short-range air-to-air missile, with an infra-red guidance system; no radar lock-on is possible, because there is no radar involved. The only way a Sidewinder could have locked on to the police radar gun would have been if it was firing flares...
 
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