McMoonter – you seem to have omitted the insurance details from the original story. I assume you pled not guilty to that offence. You presumably presented your defence to that case in court today (in the form of a valid insurance certificate). Presumably the crown had no actual evidence that you didn’t have insurance other than you failed to present a certificate at the time. I’m confused why this requires a further “check”. If the prosecution don’t offer evidence beyond reasonable doubt you should be acquitted.

I presented the valid insurance certificate to the Police and was assured it would be passed on to the officer who charged me. I was surprised when the court summons arrived still listing it as a charge. I supplied the original to the PF with my plea. They copied it. I got the feeling today it was the first time their representative had seen it.

I’d still be liable for the speeding and no MOT charges.

EDIT I presented the Insurance Certificate in court. It was the same as the copy in the file.

Upthedowns I take it you’d be happy to see your taxes go up to allow PFs proper time to prepare cases like these?

Fiar enough complaining about a public service but the individuals that do it are extremely under resourced.

al, whilst i sympathise with the PF, and knowing you are from a legal background, I still think its poor behaviour.
If any of the rest of us had done our jobs as badly prepared prepared as that we’d be out on our arses.
Now mcmoonter has to go back again, wasting more of his time and money. Given he has limited / variable income its going to hit him harder as he’s self employed, no?

f any of the rest of us had done our jobs as badly prepared prepared as that we’d be out on our arses.

what I am telling you is that they don’t have the time because they have too many cases. I’m not excusing it but it may not have been the PF’s fault (and of course it may have been).

Yep waste of Pete’s time for sure.

I’ve no idea how they ‘calculated’ my speed.
Does a Police car in a pursuit not have to have its blue flashing lights on if it is exceeding the speed limit?

In short, a police officer can “form the opinion” that you’re speeding; what it says on his speedo (which are often calibrated), your speed relative to other road users etc.

No – they don’t even need to be in a police car. To claim the speed exemption they have to show the car was being used for a “policing purpose”.

I presented the valid insurance certificate to the Police and was assured it would be passed on to the officer who charged me. I was surprised when the court summons arrived still listing it as a charge. I supplied the original to the PF with my plea. They copied it. I got the feeling today it was the first time their representative had seen it.

I’d still be liable for the speeding and no MOT charges.

EDIT I presented the Insurance Certificate in court. It was the same as the copy in the file.
I’m confused why the Sheriff is waisting the court’s time with some sort of second hearing? You’ve done your bit, the fiscal had his opportunity to present the evidence that you were not insured and your evidence was not new or surprising. You presented the same evidence to the police and the fiscal by post and he had it in his file.

It doesn’t make sense to me, not only because its how I understood justice was supposed to work but because Sheriff’s aren’t known for having a lot of sympathy towards Fiscals with poorly prepared cases. Afterall your going to get fined for the MoT and speeding anyway so why waste everyones time with a “maybe” additional (but serious) charge if the fiscal hasn’t presented any contradictory evidence.

I’d certainly want to be in court when it is reheard – given that your version of the story so far is they don’t know their ar$e from their elbow – why do you think this will change. You need to be there with every bit of evidence (like the bank statements showing payments coming off, correspondence from insurer etc) just in case they claim that insurance had been cancelled or something and you aren’t there to counter the argument.

Actually it may not do your fine for speeding and MoT any harm given the fact you’ve had to come back to court again because of the fiscal’s inadequate case.

I received a £270 fine and 3 points on my license. I was preparing myself for worse.

Could’ve been much worse!

I suspect they took into account your magnificent log store?

mcmoonter – Member

I received a £270 fine and 3 points on my license. I was preparing myself for worse.

Pah – connections in high places? Should have been hung!

Only joking – sounds about right to me.

I suspect they took into account your magnificent log store?

I doubt I could offer pay my fine in kindling.

No I wouldn’t. If they or their office had organised themselves properly they would have had a court date set for when they knew they would be prepared.

I had the same with TfL, I turned up and they didn’t (nor did they send any ‘paperwork’).

As far as the £270 fine goes, ask for time to pay, even if only to delay while they send and then process the forms.