Court Summons - Advice Please

[jeffo489]

Hi.

 

So the story goes...

 

In May I was in Derbyshire and got flashed by a speed camera van. Shortly after I moved and forgot to change my address on my licence for a few weeks. In the mean time they sent a letter to my old address.

 

Eventually I got a letter to my new address, but it was after 30 days from the offence. I replied. They responded that they had issued the notice to the registered address in time. fair enough.

 

On the trip in question, my wife and I swapped drivers a few times. I asked for evidence to identify the driver. I received the photo (from the rear of the car), and was not able to see who is driving.

 

I then requested advice from the police, and told them that I was not trying to avoid punishment, but we were unsure of who was driving. I even offered to take the blame as the registered owner of the car. They replied that my case would be passed to the criminal justice department for consideration of prosecution for failing to identify the driver.

 

I have now received a summons for court at the end of November.

 

I cannot attend, because of work commitments. One of the options on the forms is to plead guilty by post; Should I do this for the speeding charge? even though I can not say with 100% certainty that I was driving.

 

I do however want to plead not guilty to the failing to identify the driver charge; especially since I TRIED to enter into dialogue with the Derbyshire police to reach a conclusion.

 

Is there any point in replying to them via email? or should I just return the forms and enter my plea?

 

Any constructive advice is most appreciated.

[sailor sam]

First off, they don't trace you from your driving licence via a speed camera... it's the VRM which identifies the RK of the vehicle. So I am assuming that it was your V5C you didn't update "for a few weeks".

 

Secondly AFAIK, it is the RK's responsibility to identify the driver and not the police's. If you want to plead not guilty to the failing to identify the driver charge then I think you will have to attend.