Summons for failure to produce but I already did

tinyfox

Was stopped last oct for speeding while driving my dads car, showed garda my licence at the side of the road and was asked to produce insurance cert to station of my choice within 10 days and fine would be issued in post.

Duly produced cert 3 days later and paid fine the day it came in the post, all sorted until yesterday.

Garda arrives at my door yesterday morning with summons for failure to produce licence, driving without a licence and failure to produce within 10 days and told me I need to go to court in Dungarvan in April.

Rang local station where I produced cert and they said I need to contact garda that issued the summons. Spoke to him last night and he couldn't have possibly been anymore unhelpful. Explained the situation to him and he all he kept saying was its probably an issue with my local station not having put the information through and I kept telling him that they did because its not a summons for the insurance cert but for my licence which I showed him the morning he pulled me over and how I definitely showed it to him because my parents address is on the licence and not my own house and he was asking about the discrepancy with the addresses.

I asked could I go up to dungarvan and show him my licence before the court date or go back to my local station and show them again and he said no I have to to court and failure to appear would result in more trouble for me.

I'm wondering if there's anyway around this as I have never been in court before and i'm absolutly terrified even thinking about it. I know once I produce my details to judge it will be probably be struck out but its the thoughts of going up there is giving me panic attacks. Is there no way the garda and myself can sort this out beforehand?

Berty

Summons has been issued. There is no way you can avoid the day in court.

colm_mcm

Happened my ex, you have to go to court regardless, My advice is get a solicitor (E50 or 60) and he'll probably talk to the guard in question and it'll probably get thrown out.
They don't seem to keep records of these things in the station.

cormie

Similar happened my friend, good thread with great help from posters here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055770567&page=2

Don't worry too much about court, as is said in that thread, my friend didn't even make a step towards the bench before it was struck out!

corktina

yeah court appearance isnt anything to worry about....enjoy the experiance of being the least chavvy person in the room!

cadaliac

Try not to worry about the court date. Its going to happen because the summons is issued unfortunately. As said, hire a solicitor, just to speak for you in the court, if you don't want to represent your self.
Get the name of the guard that you handed the ins cert to and the date you went to the station.
Remember you did nothing wrong.You paid the fine and showed what you were asked to show, when you were asked to. This is an inconvenience, unfortunately,but with the solicitor, you will be fine. It's a pity that you got a dick of a guard, usually they are much more helpful.
The Judge will have a few words for the guard for wasting the courts time. Oh, and as Corktina said, the room will be full of scumbags, so be prepared.

Gary ITR

corktina wrote: »

yeah court appearance isnt anything to worry about....enjoy the experiance of being the least chavvy person in the room!

I remember mine, I was wearing a suit (as I do most days for work) and the skangers behind me 'jaysis look at that gobshhite wearin' a bleedin sooot'

thehomeofDob

You can ask for a receipt when you present your licsense and insurance - I got one when I got done for speeding. Would probably save all the hassle in court by just presenting the receipt.

colm_mcm

so, go back in time and ask for a receipt!

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=57006361&postcount=25
^^
suck it up, its probably just a Garda boosting his crime busting figures
it`ll be struck out like all the others in the link above. A disgusting waste of time.

I advise anyone in this situation to make a complaint to the ombudsman and take a case with the small claims court for the cost of hiring a solicitor and the loss of a days work. Only way to clean up this ****.

tinyfox

I know now I should have asked for a receipt from the station but as I showed the guard my licence the morning I was stopped and only to produce my ins cert it probably wouldn't have made much difference anyway.

I was hoping not to have to go to court in Dungarvan after I spoke to the guard as i'm from Cork so its not as simple as popping down to the courthouse for half an hour and carry on with my day. Its 2 hours each way as well as however long i'll be there all for the sake of some stupid paperwork plus the whole terrifying aspect of being in court anyway.

slimjimmc

thehomeofDob wrote: »

You can ask for a receipt when you present your licsense and insurance - I got one when I got done for speeding. Would probably save all the hassle in court by just presenting the receipt.

Do Gardaí issue a receipt when you present your licence on demand at the side of the road?

tinyfox

slimjimmc wrote: »

Do Gardaí issue a receipt when you present your licence on demand at the side of the road?

No but I think you can request one (or some sort of written confirmation) from the station where you produced your details. Not sure if they legally have to give you one but it would be great if they did, might help stop this sort of time wasting carry on

Big Nasty

Happened to me a while back. Got stopped on the way to a show in the T/A with not a screed on the windscreen, guard could have taken the car from me in fairness but told me to produce all and it would be cool. Did so the following weekend and got a receipt, happy days!

Six months later I get a summons for not producing! :eek: Rang the cop shop on numerous occasions looking for the guard in question, went down to the station twice but he wasn't on duty even though I had been told he would be! :mad: Ended up having to take the day off work to go to court, sat there amongst all the scummers for nearly three hours - lovely! When my case was called I walked up and showed my docs and receipt for producing and was sent on my way. Didn't bother kicking up a fuss but now that I think of it their clerical error cost me a days pay! :mad:

Then again if I had the bloody certs on the windscreen in the first place it would never have happened! :rolleyes:

bbability

If you only knew that half of whats goin on..

Write letter to his Inspector explaining all and cc it to Chief Clerk of Richmond Court using the case number as your reference number. (I presume its a Dublin case). On the day of your court appearance you sould also bring copy of letters to court. It should be struck out if without the need of a solicitor.

Just to note if you are ever asked to produce again and you do always get the Pulse number from the guard. That way you know he/she has done his job.

They're are over 30,000 unapaid fines in Dublin at the minute so don't worry to much. Its all in a heap

Big Nasty

bbability wrote: »

If you only knew that half of whats goin on..

Write letter to his Inspector explaining all and cc it to Chief Clerk of Richmond Court using the case number as your reference number. (I presume its a Dublin case). On the day of your court appearance you sould also bring copy of letters to court. It should be struck out if without the need of a solicitor.

Just to note if you are ever asked to produce again and you do always get the Pulse number from the guard. That way you know he/she has done his job.

They're are over 30,000 unapaid fines in Dublin at the minute so don't worry to much. Its all in a heap

I'm presuming you're a member of AGS?

Tigger

my money is on pulse system admin

tinyfox

bbability wrote: »

Write letter to his Inspector explaining all and cc it to Chief Clerk of Richmond Court using the case number as your reference number. (I presume its a Dublin case). On the day of your court appearance you sould also bring copy of letters to court. It should be struck out if without the need of a solicitor

No its from Dungarvan and i'm in Cork

746watts

thehomeofDob wrote: »

You can ask for a receipt when you present your licsense and insurance - I got one when I got done for speeding. Would probably save all the hassle in court by just presenting the receipt.

Good thinking.
About 7 years ago a buddy of mine had the hassle of guard saying he didn't produce at the station when he did and I witnessed it (coz I gave him a lift to the cop shop). Solicitor got it struck out. I think its quite common and probably because the DPP won't proceed with the case unless there's enough crap to throw at someone so the guard lies to get to court and collect expenses.

Esel

bbability wrote: »

Just to note if you are ever asked to produce again and you do always get the Pulse number from the guard. That way you know he/she has done his job.

And always produce your licence and insurance, even if you think you were only asked to produce one of them.

tinyfox

Update: Have my court appearance next wednesday so decided to ring the local garda station where I produced my insurance to see if I could get a statement from them that I produced both my licence and insurance within the 10 days and shock bloody horror they have no record of either. Garda I spoke to said this is a regular occurance and already had a phone call from someone else this morning with the same problem but they "should" give me the benefit of the doubt in court next week.:mad:

My question is, if the insurance didn't go through the system should I expect a summons for that sometime in the future and what do I do now in court if the judge/garda ask from some proof I did produce?

Chris Peak

Sorry you are going through this.
In any future dealings of this nature with AGS, speak to the member in charge of the station and request the certificate mentioned in the Road Traffic Act Section 40 - (1) (d)
"
( d ) Where any person is required to produce a driving licence at a Garda Síochána station and the person produces the licence within 10 days after the day on which the production was required, the member in charge of the Garda Síochána station shall issue a certificate stating that the licence was so produced and such certificate shall be evidence of the facts stated in the certificate."

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1994/en/act/pub/0007/sec0025.html#zza7y1994s25