Fine not received, summons and court

Kewreeuss

My neice was stopped by a garda driving and using her phone, about 8 months ago. She waited for the fine, and waited and waited.
two months ago a summons was delivered to her door.
She investigated then and found that the original fine was returned to the issueing office in thurles marked "undeliverable away", which she wasn't!
The office in thurles said that the fine was then sent to the traffic section in Dublin Castle where all the seem to have done was eventually issue a summons.
She then asked and got an email from Thurles confirming that the summons had never been delivered and brought it to court.
She pleaded guilty, because she had been using her phone, judge asked her if she had anything to say, so she said she didn't get the fine, and she had an email. so then the judge said so your pleading not guilty then, the garda isn't here today it will be december before I can hear the case again.
My niece doesn't think she will be in the country by the end of the summer so she said ok I'll plead guilty then and she got a fine of 200, which she is waiting to arrive. She doesn't know when to expect it, if she gets points and now she's worried that she has a criminal record. Shes only a kid, just out of college and hasn't a clue. She went on her own to court and couldn't even find an office to pay the 200, and just came home with no paperwork or anything.
We all think this is not fair that she has this huge fine. If she had received the first notice she would have paid up, it wasn't her fault the postman might have been new on the route. Someone else said she should have got a lawyer, but perhaps the fine costs less than the lawyer.
Does anyone know if she:
can/should appeal,
should pay up and shut up,
can find out if she has a criminal record
can find out if she is getting points and how many.
Sorry to come across as clueless, but none of us have had any dealings with the law before and this seems the ideal place to get information and opinions. thank you

NoQuarter

Kewreeuss wrote: »

We all think this is not fair that she has this huge fine. If she had received the first notice she would have paid up, it wasn't her fault the postman might have been new on the route.

So she should have pled not guilty. Huge fine? 200 quid for breaking the law with a dangerous act is nowhere near a huge fine!

Kewreeuss wrote: »

Someone else said she should have got a lawyer, but perhaps the fine costs less than the lawyer.

At least she might have gotten away with the conviction.

Kewreeuss wrote: »

Does anyone know if she:
can/should appeal,

When was she in court? She can appeal but it has to be within a certain time.

Kewreeuss wrote: »

can find out if she has a criminal record

If she got a "fine", she is convicted. If she had to pay money to a charity or the "poor box", she is not convicted.

coylemj

Pity she didn't have the balls to ask for the case to be struck out because for a minor offence like that, if the Garda doesn't turn up and hasn't notified you and you show up, most judges will strike out the summons.

Every violation of the Road Traffc Act is technically a criminal offence but in this and most countries it's not considered a criminal 'record' to have such a conviction. For example, it wouldn't be a blocker to getting a visa for the US because they consider 'traffic violations' to be minor stains on your character which don't place you in the category of moral deviant.

If she pleaded guilty then she really doesn't have a case for an appeal does she? The court will send her a letter after about three weeks but if she has the summons and the case reference number, she can go to the court office and pay the fine or lodge an appeal. I think you have to lodge an appeal within two weeks of the court case.

ResearchWill

She can appeal within 15 days, if recognisance has not been set then an application will need to be made to the court to set that, also if after 14 days then an application to extend time to appeal will have to be made.

It is open to the CC to decide not to convict, to convict and same fine, to convict and increase penalty.

The excuse I never received the fixed penalty notice is not really working anymore I think there was a HC case on the issue. The fact that she can prove she did not receive the notice may be to her advantage, but she would need advice on that issue.

If your neice wants to go through all that and more than likely still end up with 200 fine then cool. But prob better to just pay it and mark it down to experience.

Most visa applications exclude motor traffic offences, same for job applications etc.

Kewreeuss

thank you for your replies.
I kind of thought it was a case of 'suck it up', even if it seemed unfair.

So the onus is on the individual to make sure to get the first notification?
That's fine if you have been stopped and know what's in the pipeline.
What if a camera gets you speeding and you don't know?
I don't think any of this info is in the learning to drive manual.
anyway, thanks again for your replies.