mistake in first summons

fern28

Hi. A district court summons was served on a friend of mine. It contained the wrong date of when the offence was alleged to be carried out. The gardai realised their mistake and a few days later serviced another summons on my friend directly.

The question Im asking is does the acceptance of the second summons mean that the first summons is now redundant...as surely it would have been throw out for the wrong date.

Jo King

I presume both summons are returnable for the same date. Most likely the guard will apply to have the first on struck out. A summons is not evidence of the facts stated on it and could have been amended in court anyway.

trad

Was the second summons served on the defendant by the complainant? The complainant cannot serve a summons they issued.

nuac

Agree with Jo King and trad's posts.

District Judges have power to amend, and will do so unless it can be shown that the defendant is prejudiced, or that the wrong person is before the court.

Law is not an exact science.