Hey folks,
looking for a bit of advice. Just received a court summons for a speeding offence back in Late Feb 2011.
I received a letter from West Yorkshire Police which I confirmed I was the driver at the time of the offence (55mpn in a reduced 50mph zone on a motorway). I returned the form and was expecting a speed awareness application to be sent out (1st offense). It never arrived and the matter slipped my mind after a month.
Fast forward 5 months and i've just received a summons for Bradford Magistrates court. I've contacted the courts to explain its out of the blue and i've received nothing since admitting I was the driver.
They tell me to contact West Yorkshire Police. When I speak to them they tell me they sent a speed awareness application followed by a NIP 5 weeks later, both of which I've never received. They are now telling me they can't do anything as it's been passed on to the courts. All I can do is plead guilty at court or by post.
Now i'm not trying to wriggle out of anything but feel pi$$ed that its gone straight to court without me getting the same options as every other driver on the road in the same situation. I only have the police's word that they sent it out and I don't know if these are computer generated or not.
If I plead guilty I have no idea about the size of the fine or points but there will be an £85 charge added on for costs.
Given the same options as everyone else I would have taken the speed awareness course and saved me getting points.
Any advice?? The people at the magistrates have been really helpful, the woman at the police not so.
I'm happy to plead guilty and maybe send a letter to explain but don't want to end up with points and a hefty court expense bill just because some person / computer guffed up and didn't sent out the forms.
And before you all say, yes I did the crime and am willing to except the punishment. I'm not debating that, I just want the same punishment as everyone else would get not some more trumped up costs and points.

