Summons for no reason!!

ToxicPaddy

I just got a summons delivered to the house by a garda stating that I have to appear in court for not producing my documents after being stopped by the Gardai..

2 days after I was stopped I went to the agreed station and produced all requested documentation.

So I contacted the Garda in question, he said I have to appear in court and just bring all my documents and it will be dismissed, so now I have to appear in court when I'm supposed to be off on holidays at a friends wedding, hire a solicitor and basically spend a small fortune for nothing.. and I wont be reimbursed according to the Garda.

Apparently its due to a computer glitch..

Such bullsh*t

Is there anything I can do??

So bloody p*ssed off :mad::mad::mad::mad:

seanybiker

jesus thats bad that is bud. Dont turn up and tell them that you had the date in your electronic diary but there must have been a glitch in it.

maidhc

ToxicPaddy wrote: »

Is there anything I can do??

Ask the Garda if he would adjourn it.

xbox36016

LOL

ToxicPaddy

I already spoke to him and he just said there was nothing cud be done.. just to go to court and it will be dismissed.. :rolleyes:

So I have to cancel my holiday and pay for a solicitor just cause of a bloody glitch.. so fuppin typical... :mad:

Carawaystick

If you're getting a solicitor, ask if you need to be in the court and what compo you could get for wasting your time.
seperately, a complaint to the Garda Ombudsman should at least get some satisfaction

In the old days, production of documents went into the station book, dunno if it's still the same. Ask to check the station log.

maidhc

ToxicPaddy wrote: »

I already spoke to him and he just said there was nothing cud be done.. just to go to court and it will be dismissed.. :rolleyes:

So I have to cancel my holiday and pay for a solicitor just cause of a bloody glitch.. so fuppin typical... :mad:

I think you should have a chat with the Garda again, be reasonable and explain the situation. Ask the garda specfically can the matter be heard on another date (you will run the risk of the garda forgetting to do this and you getting prosecuted in absentia, but I have never heard of this happen).

I'm not going to give any legal advice, but if you can get a local solicitor who would be in the district court a lot, they should be able to sort you for a small fee.

Don't cancel your holiday just yet.

dats_right

Whilst my advice would be get a solicitor, preferably who will already be in court on that day, to deal with the matter. It must be ssaid that this is an extremely common occurence and the vast majority of people will choose not to retain the services of a solicitor to sort the matter. It is an inconvenience OP, but unfortunately it's a case of c'est la vie as you will not be compensated, some posters do seem to live in a parallel universe though, I mean , talk of the Garda Ombudsman? Get real!

nuac

Write yourself or via a local solicitor to the Superintendent GS for that area suggesting that they withdraw the summons.

ToxicPaddy

Ok, had a little time to calm down and think this out..

Unfortunately I'm not from the area, just working here so dont know too many people and dont know any solicitors. So no matter what happens, I will be forking out and I will be looking for get some costs back..

I will be talking to that Garda's former sergant or super, depending on who I can get in contact with and will be bringing copies of all my documentation and something in writing from the station I agreed to show the documents at that I did actually bring them there. So fingers crossed that will be the end of it.

I cant believe that this actually happened, I wouldnt mind if I had no tax or whatever, but I had everything in order, I was stopped doing 5mph over the limit, fair enough, I was in the wrong, produced my documents as requested, got my 2 points and paid the fine on time.. and now I have a summons and a big headache for nothing.. :mad:

Yet another thing to blacken my view of the gardai even though I know they have a tough job and its something I couldnt do, the fact that this happened is down to incompetence and nothing more..

I dunno, a nice little xmas pressie for me for doing what I was supposed to do.. :rolleyes:

Tox

cushtac

Unless you have proof you produced your documents within the 10 days you've no chance of getting any compo/costs.

ToxicPaddy

I'm in the process of organising this as we speak, contacted the Garda Station that I produced the documents at and they confirmed that I did indeed produce the documents..

Our man in Havana

cushtac wrote: »

Unless you have proof you produced your documents within the 10 days you've no chance of getting any compo/costs.

I have never heard of anyone getting costs in a case like this.

lynchie

Go to your station with your documents and details and ask for a print out of from pulse showing the record of you producing it. The Garda would have entered those details into it when you produced them. Bring them with you to court (wont need a solicitor), show them to the judge and it will be thrown out then. Alternatively, give them to a solicitor who will appear for you.

I had a similar issue before and there is no chance of you getting costs back for this.

hottstuff

I had this happen to me before and was told the exact same thing.
Had to take the day off work to make an appearance , got an apology from the judge for wasting my time anywho.
Copper didn't give a toss.:rolleyes:

ToxicPaddy

And did you manage to get any costs recouped from it?

Checked with a solicitor, gonna cost me around €400 for the privilege of someone not doing their job right.. lookin to see if I can get costs covered at the moment. Also waiting to hear back from that Garda's old sergant and see what he can do for me.. Such a load of b*llox!!! :mad:

hottstuff

Not a chance mate, unfortunately.

Our man in Havana

The only recourse is a complaint to GSOC.

Jo King

ToxicPaddy wrote: »

And did you manage to get any costs recouped from it?

Checked with a solicitor, gonna cost me around €400 for the privilege of someone not doing their job right.. lookin to see if I can get costs covered at the moment. Also waiting to hear back from that Garda's old sergant and see what he can do for me.. Such a load of b*llox!!! :mad:

€400 is ridiculous for an appearance like that. Find a legal aid solicitor who operates in that court. It should be much cheaper. There are legal aid solicitors in Dublin who will do it for €100. There is no chance of getting costs back from the state.

thecornerboy

This exact same thing happened to someone I know except when he went to the Garda involved, the Garda said he would sort it out, never sorted it out and my friend was banned from driving when it came to court as he had been informed verbally the case wasn't going ahead and didn't show up. It took him 2 years to get it overturned. I told him he should sue left, right and centre but he just wanted it sorted. He was driving whilst banned for 2 years, if he had a serious accident and was at fault he was screwed for every penny he had.

This is not legal advice, I'm not a solicitor, this based on something I experienced before. I would speak to the court clerk, ask him can you send a copy of the documentation in advance by registered post as you will be away on holiday and tell him you'll include a note from the Garda saying yes the information had been provided in the Garda station within 10 days. At the very least this might result in the case being adjourned to a more suitable time. I doubt this is allowed but it is worth a shot. The judge is usually sympathetic in cases were the defendant has been ****ed over by the Garda with regards non-attendance and documentation. It seems to be a pet hate of judges. I was allowed forward documentation to the court in lieu of an appearance one time, proof that I had paid a fine, it was a followup appearance to the actual case but I was told to appear in front of the court on a specific day. I had work commitments so the clerk said this was acceptable.

If this isn't acceptable, again I have no idea about legal issues this isn't legal advice, but I would inform the Garda that unless the summons is withdrawn asap you'll be making a formal complaint to the Ombudsman. You have to make it more trouble for them to deal with your complaining than to have it withdrawn. The above might be nonsense but this is what I would try.

Best of luck.

ToxicPaddy

Well the Garda who issued the summons really didnt give a toss and didnt want to know about it.. hes now based in the a*se hole of nowhere down the country so I'd be surprised if he even turns up in court..

The case isnt until April but I intend to pursue every single avenue and make a complaint to the Ombudsman, if for nothing more than to get my word in..

I didnt contest the points, produced the documents, paid my fine, received my points, even notified my insurance company of getting them.. everything has been done by the book and it makes me wonder why?? :mad: