Arrested Due To Arrest Warrant & Court Papers Being Sent To Wrong Address.

[Rob1969]

Hello guys.

I was recently arrested by Manchester Police at my home in Manchester under an arrest warrant issued by the Scottish Courts. I had not attended court on Jan 2025, they had sent the letter out to my old address, 2 addresses ago. This was regarding a motoring incident that occurred in Glasgow on Aug 2023. I have since moved 2 times, due to landlords selling up and me being evicted. Since the missed court date 12 months ago I have not had any correspondence i.e. texts, calls emails.


I was in police custody for 2 1/2 days so can I sue them for this atrocious arrest and treating me like a criminal. On thinking back I have changed my email and phone number. I had never heard from them and so I assumed they were not going to take this further.


So what is the right protocol for the police are they not meant to do any research before sending out court papers or arrest warrants. I am easily found as I always change my v5 and drivers license. They have put out an arrest warrant instead of contacting DVLA and getting my new details.

Rob

[islandgirl]

You will have had letters from the court but obviously to the wrong address. Probably key is how things were left in 2023 by the Police - was the matter under investigation? If so then it may be that the duty was yours to inform the court of your new address. In England letters will have been sent to the address and this will have been checked in court befor the warrant was issued. The court will not "do the research".

[Rob1969]

You will have had letters from the court but obviously to the wrong address. Probably key is how things were left in 2023 by the Police - was the matter under investigation? If so then it may be that the duty was yours to inform the court of your new address. In England letters will have been sent to the address and this will have been checked in court befor the warrant was issued. The court will not "do the research".

Many thanks for your reply. I was not given any information at the time of the incident. It would be better if they made contact with me to let me know how thing were being handled, no calls or emails or letter around the time of the incident.

[islandgirl]

The court would probably (Scotland not England but assume similar) that the letters had been sent to the last known address and that all attempts had been made re contact. You will have had a court date and not turned up or contacted the court to request an adjournment. In those circumstances, ignorant of the backstory etc I would also have issued a warrant. I do not think the Police have done anything wrong, sorry although your experience must have been awful. Having been aware that there had been an incident and that the Police were looking into it (they have 6 months to charge I believe) I think the onus was on you to inform them if you moved house. Is the matter going forward on another date?

[Rob1969]

The court would probably (Scotland not England but assume similar) that the letters had been sent to the last known address and that all attempts had been made re contact. You will have had a court date and not turned up or contacted the court to request an adjournment. In those circumstances, ignorant of the backstory etc I would also have issued a warrant. I do not think the Police have done anything wrong, sorry although your experience must have been awful. Having been aware that there had been an incident and that the Police were looking into it (they have 6 months to charge I believe) I think the onus was on you to inform them if you moved house. Is the matter going forward on another date?

I apologise for the late reply i have beeen dying with the flu. Also i dont get email notificatiuons either.

I was told by the duty lawyer that the 6 month rule does not apply to my case, i cant remember exactly what her acual wording was. It was an incident where i was driving my car and a cyclist moved directly in front of my car, i then hit the cyclist, i believe the cyclist was careless and to blame.

I have a court date for March 2026 so i can only hope that the court rules in my favour, i am also aware that everyone is likely to side with the cyclist on most occasions.

[islandgirl]

It is up to you to make sure that they do not side with the cyclist! I have sat on cases like this and found for the driver but you have to make a case. Bring maps, plans, location details. Be able to explain that the cyclist went from point A to point B directly in front of you so you could not avoid them. Also bring proof that you had no link to your old address to show the court that you were not being disrespectul by not showing up first time. The ball is in your court on this. You must consider being represented too. I base this response of course on English courts. You can probably google the charge and find out the potential sentence too.

[Rob1969]

It is up to you to make sure that they do not side with the cyclist! I have sat on cases like this and found for the driver but you have to make a case. Bring maps, plans, location details. Be able to explain that the cyclist went from point A to point B directly in front of you so you could not avoid them. Also bring proof that you had no link to your old address to show the court that you were not being disrespectul by not showing up first time. The ball is in your court on this. You must consider being represented too. I base this response of course on English courts. You can probably google the charge and find out the potential sentence too.

Many thanks for your reply i really appreciate it.


I will do as you suggest and gather as much information as i can. I still have the old tenancy contracts to show regarding my moving dates. I also have legal help from the duty solicitor and i have also got legal aid. I just receiced the new court papers and i have a date for April 2026, the charge is dangerous driving.

Do you know if the witnesses are actually valid, they were standing at the bus stop, there was a bus parked there too, it happened at the rear right corner of the bus, the witnesses could not see what happened, its impossible, there was a bus parked there with its engine running too. They only seen the after events in my opinion. See the image, i was on the lane second from the left, the witnesses were standing at the bus shelter and with a parked bus in between. The police told they could charge me because they have 2 independant witnesses.

One of the witnesses was harrasssing me to the point we ended up in a scuffle, i told the police about the harrassment but they did not do anything about my complaint, he stank of drink and accused me of drinking and driving, i would say this would mean he is not a valid witness but who knows.



The penalty is up to 2 years in prison, an unlimited fine, a minimum 12-month driving ban, and penalty points (3-11), plus a mandatory extended re-test

[islandgirl]

Scottish system so I do not really know how that works. Your solicitor will make the points about the unrealiability of the witnesses to the court and will cross examine them to try to show this. Lots of questions will be asked about where they were and what they saw. I assume April 26 will be the first hearing where you plead? Then a trial date will be fixed if you plead not guilty. In England people are waiting over a year for trials. Things may be much better in Scotland?

[PallasAthena]

I don't know the Scottish system either but in any hearing your lawyer is able to put the points about the witness to the court to cast doubt on the reliability of their evidence. Whether in fact they could see the incident and their behaviour towards you at the scene.

[Rob1969]

Scottish system so I do not really know how that works. Your solicitor will make the points about the unrealiability of the witnesses to the court and will cross examine them to try to show this. Lots of questions will be asked about where they were and what they saw. I assume April 26 will be the first hearing where you plead? Then a trial date will be fixed if you plead not guilty. In England people are waiting over a year for trials. Things may be much better in Scotland?

Many thanks for your reply its very much appreciated.

The wording of the letter is slightly confusing, i wrongly thought the Trial Diet in April 2026, and that i dont need to go to the Intermediate Diet March 2026, after reading your post i can now see im meant to attend the Intermediate Diet in March too.

Its the Pre-Intermediate diet that i dont need to attend.

[Rob1969]

I don't know the Scottish system either but in any hearing your lawyer is able to put the points about the witness to the court to cast doubt on the reliability of their evidence. Whether in fact they could see the incident and their behaviour towards you at the scene.

Mant thanks for your reply it is very much appreciated.

I will make sure i inform the lawyer of everything. Initially i was told i was not going to be charged, then a while later after they spoke to other people, they decided that they could now charge me. I got the inpression the policeman was going out his way to find information against me even though they could not see what happened.

[islandgirl]

Many thanks for your reply its very much appreciated.

The wording of the letter is slightly confusing, i wrongly thought the Trial Diet in April 2026, and that i dont need to go to the Intermediate Diet March 2026, after reading your post i can now see im meant to attend the Intermediate Diet in March too.

Its the Pre-Intermediate diet that i dont need to attend.

As I say I know nothing about Scottish law! In the court I am in you would have a first hearing and if guilty may well be sentenced right away if the crime is suitable for magistrates. If you plead guilty we fix a trial. In an English court you would attend that first appearance.

[Manxman]

Wouldn't it be more sensible to post on the Scotland board? Scotland - LegalBeagles Forum

[islandgirl]

You are right Manxman but I am unsure how many scottish specialists we have! I think some of our English-centred advice has been helpful thus far.

[Rob1969]

As I say I know nothing about Scottish law! In the court I am in you would have a first hearing and if guilty may well be sentenced right away if the crime is suitable for magistrates. If you plead guilty we fix a trial. In an English court you would attend that first appearance.

Many thanks for your reply i really appreciate it.

I have posted the letter from the solicitors office. It looks like i need to attend both court dates. It mentions i dont need to attend the Pre-trial diet.