Advice on company court case for failing to provide information.

[Guest]

Hi all,

Can anyone advise on the likely out come of the following.

A company vehicle of our was involved in a speeding offence, we didnt reply in time naming the driver and had a court summons for the company.

We have since spoken with the court and advised them we have had devices fitted to stop it happening again, and have discovered the driver at fault and informed them.
They have said they have saved the email to our file and it will be viewed by the magistrate.

Does anyone know of a likely outcome or have experience of how any conviction might look, and the ongoing effect on the business?

Thanks in advance.

[des8]

If found guilty the result could be a hefty fine!

Why did it take so long to discover the identity of the driver?
Sometimes firms vehicles can be driven by any employee.
If a particular vehicle is on site it is not uncommon for any one employee to nip out to say a builders merchant.
If that sort of scenario is appropriate you could argue that it was not reasonably practicable**to keep* a detailed log due to the nature of the work.
This would be in accordance with the defence permitted by the act:

"A person shall not be guilty of an offence by virtue of paragraph (a) of subsection (2) above if he shows that he did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained who the driver of the vehicle was."

[JW7256]

If found guilty the result could be a hefty fine!

Why did it take so long to discover the identity of the driver?
Sometimes firms vehicles can be driven by any employee.
If a particular vehicle is on site it is not uncommon for any one employee to nip out to say a builders merchant.
If that sort of scenario is appropriate you could argue that it was not reasonably practicableto keep a detailed log due to the nature of the work.
This would be in accordance with the defence permitted by the act:

"A person shall not be guilty of an offence by virtue of paragraph (a) of subsection (2) above if he shows that he did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained who the driver of the vehicle was."

Thanks for the welcome and response.

We work away alot - coupled with the correspondence going to a registered address and not a trading address. It's completely our fault.
We do have an over 25 policy and all people generally do pop out to wholesalers or to and from jobs all across the company. We have a pool of around 50 freelance staff and agency drivers as well.
On this occasion we couldn't work out why the vehicle had been where it was, and it took a bit of digging around.

Do you know what level of fine is likely imposed, and would that also be classed as a criminal conviction against the company which could effect it in the future?

Thanks again for your help.

[des8]

Maximum fine is £1000 plus victim surcharge (10%?) plus prosecution costs.
As companies can't get the 6 points on their non existence driving licence, penalties tend to be on the upper end of the fine

It might be worth pleading not guilty (or at least mitigation and grovelling) on the basis of your numerous drivers, lack of time due to absence & use of unmanned registered address and eventual naming of driver when culprit eventually identified.

Failing to provide drivers details, whilst a criminal offence, does not appear on criminal records

[JW7256]

Maximum fine is £1000 plus victim surcharge (10%?) plus prosecution costs.
As companies can't get the 6 points on their non existence driving licence, penalties tend to be on the upper end of the fine

It might be worth pleading not guilty (or at least mitigation and grovelling) on the basis of your numerous drivers, lack of time due to absence & use of unmanned registered address and eventual naming of driver when culprit eventually identified.

Failing to provide drivers details, whilst a criminal offence, does not appear on criminal records

Thank you once again.
So would you suggest we send a representative to the hearing? I had assumed it would be more of a formality.
We did speak to the court via email and were told that there was nothing that could be done and we had to await the outcome of the case. Does that sound right?

[des8]

There are differing opinions on what is the better way of proceeding.
Speaking to court officials doesn't make any difference.

Some say that attending court and grovelling shows respect and might sway the magistrates, but others point out that by attending you are taking up court time unnecessarily and if the magistrate got out of bed on the wrong side.................
The other aspect to bear in mind is the cost to your business of sending someone to court

If you are pleading* guilty the court costs are (I think) £150, if found guilty after a trial £520*

Looking back over this thread I think you have already responded with a guilty plea so it is not probably worth doing anything but await outcome.

[JW7256]

Thanks for this. We will await the outcome. Thank you very much.