Monty91
03-21-2014, 12:38 PM
I am writing with regard to my court hearing scheduled for XXXXXXX following a charge of failing to give information relating to the identification of the driver of a vehicle alleged to have been guilty of an offence.
I wish to request that the above charge be dismissed and that I am instead charged with the original speeding offence that instigated the process leading to a court summons for the offence of failing to identify the driver. I am making this plea because I believe I can show beyond reasonable doubt that my failure to identify the driver was caused by the fact that I did not receive the request and it is therefore not reasonably practicable for me to have done so.
Regarding the aforementioned speeding offence, the Metropolitan Police have told me that on 7th April 2013 on the A13 Thames Gateway in Kent at 6.39pm a vehicle (XXXXXXXXXX) registered under my name and address was photographed by a speeding camera driving at 62mph in a 50mph zone. Whilst I have not seen any proof of this alleged offence, I have no substantive reason to doubt its veracity. I can therefore confirm that I was the driver at the time stated and I accept that the details of the alleged offence given above are correct.
I also wish to confirm that should the existing charge be reduced to the original speeding offence, I will accept this conviction and the resulting punishment.
I will now lay out my argument for reducing the charge to the original speeding offence:
In March 2012 I moved out of XXXXXXXX and moved into XXXXXX (see attached documentation for proof of these dates). Prior to moving, rather than paying for an official Royal Mail post forwarding service, I made a note of the companies and organisations I needed to contact to inform them of my change of address. This included the DVLA for the purpose of amending my driving licence, which I believed in good faith was all that was required for the updating of my motoring records. I was unaware of the requirement to update my V5C certificate by separate cover.
My decision not to use an official post forwarding service was also motivated by the fact that I was friendly with my downstairs neighbours at my former address and knew I would be able to return to the flat on a regular basis to check that no post had been erroneously directed there.
Some months after I had moved, my former neighbours also changed address and the possibility of returning to the flat to check for post was no longer available. Given that several months had now passed, and I had already applied what I believed was due diligence in informing all essential parties of my change of address, I felt no practical reason to take any further measures.
Unbeknown to me, on 16th April 2013, due to my failure to update my V5C certificate at my new address, a Fixed Penalty Notice for speeding was sent to my old address and, subsequently, a Notice of Intended Prosecution and Court Summons (leading to my being found guilty in absence). The matter was then passed to Collectica debt recovery agency who tracked me down to my new address and issued me with a Distress Warrant which I received on 5th March 2014. The following week, I successfully gave a statutory declaration at Willesden Magistrates’ Court citing the above series of events.
Whilst I fully accept that it was my responsibility to ensure my V5C certificate was registered to the correct address, and to ensure measures were in place to receive post to the correct address, I hope that the information I have provided will demonstrate that reasonable efforts were made to satisfy these requirements and that it was an administrative oversight that resulted in this unfortunate situation, rather than a lack of diligence or indeed an attempt to evade the law.
I wish to reiterate that I deeply regret and apologise for these failures, and fully understand the importance of maintaining correct motoring records.
I wish to request that the above charge be dismissed and that I am instead charged with the original speeding offence that instigated the process leading to a court summons for the offence of failing to identify the driver. I am making this plea because I believe I can show beyond reasonable doubt that my failure to identify the driver was caused by the fact that I did not receive the request and it is therefore not reasonably practicable for me to have done so.
Regarding the aforementioned speeding offence, the Metropolitan Police have told me that on 7th April 2013 on the A13 Thames Gateway in Kent at 6.39pm a vehicle (XXXXXXXXXX) registered under my name and address was photographed by a speeding camera driving at 62mph in a 50mph zone. Whilst I have not seen any proof of this alleged offence, I have no substantive reason to doubt its veracity. I can therefore confirm that I was the driver at the time stated and I accept that the details of the alleged offence given above are correct.
I also wish to confirm that should the existing charge be reduced to the original speeding offence, I will accept this conviction and the resulting punishment.
I will now lay out my argument for reducing the charge to the original speeding offence:
In March 2012 I moved out of XXXXXXXX and moved into XXXXXX (see attached documentation for proof of these dates). Prior to moving, rather than paying for an official Royal Mail post forwarding service, I made a note of the companies and organisations I needed to contact to inform them of my change of address. This included the DVLA for the purpose of amending my driving licence, which I believed in good faith was all that was required for the updating of my motoring records. I was unaware of the requirement to update my V5C certificate by separate cover.
My decision not to use an official post forwarding service was also motivated by the fact that I was friendly with my downstairs neighbours at my former address and knew I would be able to return to the flat on a regular basis to check that no post had been erroneously directed there.
Some months after I had moved, my former neighbours also changed address and the possibility of returning to the flat to check for post was no longer available. Given that several months had now passed, and I had already applied what I believed was due diligence in informing all essential parties of my change of address, I felt no practical reason to take any further measures.
Unbeknown to me, on 16th April 2013, due to my failure to update my V5C certificate at my new address, a Fixed Penalty Notice for speeding was sent to my old address and, subsequently, a Notice of Intended Prosecution and Court Summons (leading to my being found guilty in absence). The matter was then passed to Collectica debt recovery agency who tracked me down to my new address and issued me with a Distress Warrant which I received on 5th March 2014. The following week, I successfully gave a statutory declaration at Willesden Magistrates’ Court citing the above series of events.
Whilst I fully accept that it was my responsibility to ensure my V5C certificate was registered to the correct address, and to ensure measures were in place to receive post to the correct address, I hope that the information I have provided will demonstrate that reasonable efforts were made to satisfy these requirements and that it was an administrative oversight that resulted in this unfortunate situation, rather than a lack of diligence or indeed an attempt to evade the law.
I wish to reiterate that I deeply regret and apologise for these failures, and fully understand the importance of maintaining correct motoring records.