New to this but need some help urgently

[des8]

...I was just drawing attention to the wording of the Act at the same time as islandgirl when my beautiful helpful hound nudged my mouse hand and deleted the lot.

If you read the wording you will see that information has to be laid before magistrates within the 6 months.
The actual summons can be issued thereafter, outside of that time.

[islandgirl]

You can rely on our doggos to be super helpful at times like this! He / she was merely trying to point you in the right direction - a legalhound, no less.

[Mossy1234]

Ah ok, I understand. That's very disappointing, thank you for the advice though. Back to square one I suppose.

[echat11]

The best thing to do is nail down the facts / information, if you send a Subject Access Request to the Police, if the other person does the same, the police has 30 days to provide all the requested data, that may highlight where the anomaly regards to the fines received has come from.

https://www.met.police.uk/rqo/reques...-someone-else/

The SAR template -

https://legalbeagles.info/library/gu...ccess-request/ - make sure you get Proof of Postage.

[MIKE770]

Subject Access Request Letter get proof of posting.

[echat11]

Subject Access Request Letter get proof of posting.

Thank you.

[Mossy1234]

Thankyou, however, the date to attend is on the 9th Feb so not enough time to do the SAR. ( only received notice of this last week ) this "hearing is to see how the case is to proceed so don't really know what to expect, whether there is anyone there we are able to reason with and put our defence forward.
He wasn't ever disputing the fact that he broke rules and would have been happy to pay the lesser "correct" fine, there was just no alternative way to appeal without taking it to court.
His original FPN was for the charge of “ Contravene requirement to not participate in a gathering of more than 15 people- private dwelling” with a first charge offence fine of £800 ( reduced to £400 if paid within 14 days)

But when his charge then came though after not paying the FPN it was for the charge of “ Contravene a requirement to not participate in a gathering in the Tier 4 area of two or more people – private dwelling/any indoor space”

The latter of the two was the same as the charge his friend received “ Contravene a requirement to not participate in a gathering in the Tier 4 area of two or more people – private dwelling/any indoor space” with a first charge of £200 ( reduced to £100 if paid within 14 days)

At this point he is unclear of what he is even being charged for as they contradict each other but there just isn't anyone to speak to without it going to court.

sorry for the long post!



This is what he sent as his defence back in December---

A******* ****** ******
1* H******** lane, B****, B** **R D.O.B. **-**-****

Please accept this letter as part of defence for -
ACRO reference number CV19-***** – URN ************
I am pleading Not Guilty because-

I am unclear of what I am now being charged for, I received a fixed penalty notice- ACRO reference number ACRO CV19-***17 dated 26^th March 2021 stating

“ Contravene requirement to not participate in a gathering of more than 15 people- private dwelling” with a first charge offence fine of £800 ( reduced to £400 if paid within 14 days)

This contradicts a fine which was also issued at the same property to another person, statements said to be taken at the same address, by two separate police officers in the same room within 5 minutes of each other but resulted in a different charge. Acro reference number -ACRO CV19 ***46 dated 24-03-2021 stating-
“ Contravene a requirement to not participate in a gathering in the Tier 4 area of two or more people – private dwelling/any indoor space” with a first charge of £200 ( reduced to £100 if paid within 14 days)

There was no option to appeal the fixed penalty notice I received, only an option not to pay and request a court date, I did write a letter explaining my actions and why I wanted to dispute the original notice- due to the fact that the number of people noted at the property was contradicting on the 2 FPN’s and I believed the one I received to be untrue, on top of this could you please appreciate that the amount of £800 ( even if reduced to £400 ) was not something I was in any kind of position to pay due to my income.

What I appear to be being charged for now is different to the original fixed penalty notice and I have not been able to speak to anyone regarding this. Am I now being charged with the same offence as FPN ACRO CV19 ***46 ?

I have tried to get advice regarding this but the guidelines are very unclear, I am just wanting to plea to you that I am a hardworking person and have been working all throughout the pandemic I have also have been ill with covid, resulting in having to have unpaid time off work. I really hope that this can be resolved without the result of me receiving a criminal record as this with significantly hinder my future work prospects and livelihood.

[echat11]

Send the SAR's anyway, that might help later on.

You need to articulate your son's position at the Hearing (sounds like a case management hearing).

That your son's fine is disproportionate to the other persons fine and they were at the same place at the same time. Gather as much evidence as you can.

There will no doubt be a prosecutor available who you can speak to. In fact you should be speaking to these people to resolve the matter without the need for a Hearing.

[Mossy1234]

Thankyou, hopefully once we can actually get to speak to someone we can come to a mutual agreement and put the matter to rest. Thanks again for the advice, I will make sure the SAR's are sent.

[islandgirl]

As it is a case management hearing they will be looking to fix a trial date. There will be a prosecutor and yourselves (or your solicitor if you get advice, which I would). You will get the chance to explain and see what the prosecutor says. They may refuse to amend anything and then a trial date will be fixed.

[Mossy1234]

Hi all, I just wanted to thank you for your advice and give you a update. We ( my son) attended court, which I might add was a LOT more formal than expected for a case management hearing, 3 magistrates and another 4 staff in the room, son was made to stand in the defendant box and confirm his details, they read out the charges etc to him, and then referred to the comments we had put in the letter of defence about the charge not being done within the correct timescale- long story short the case was dismissed due to these this reason. No charges or costs to my son and all done and dusted. I'm glad I did some homework and asked for advice. Thanks to all who helped.

[echat11]

That's a great result, well done.

[islandgirl]

Great news!