Court appearance for unpaid fine that supposedly did not exist

emffb1

Last July I was stopped followed into my drive way by a member of the traffic corps, who accused me of diving while holding a mobile phone. I did not have my phone, my son and daughter were playing with it in the back of the car. he guard in question was quite nasty and when he got my details and left i telephoned his sergeant and told him what happened. He spoke to the guard and called me back and told me to forget about it, that i would hear no more on the matter. In January i received a court summons for non payment of a fine i never received. I again called he sergeant and was told not to bother turning up in court that he would take care of it. Last week i received a fine for €300 in the post dated 21st March( apparently when i did not show in court the 1st time another date was allocated to me and i didnt show then either so was fined. I did not know about 2nd date or i would have gone. I have lodged an appeal form in the court and have been trying to contact the sergeant again as i have to appear on thursday to appeal. Does anyone know what might happen in this case?????

Maxpv

Pro tip: Whenever a guard says not to show up in court, that means that you should. A mate had a bench warrant issued even though the guard told him the charge was being struck off and he didn't need to show up.

Talk to the guard again and see if the charge is being struck out.

emffb1

The sergeant was not available when i rang last week. He is back tomorrow. I will ring first thing. Spoke to another guard last tuesday and he was to ring me back, but guess what?? I would have shown up for 1st date but i had just started a weeks work having had no proper work for 4 years. According to the court clerk it cannot be dealt with by the guards now as a judgement has been made so i have to apply for leave to appeal.The guard i spoke to last week thinks the sergeant might be able to do something though so fingers crossed.

Maxpv

emffb1 wrote: »

Spoke to another guard last tuesday and he was to ring me back, but guess what??

If I had a euro for every time that has happened...

emffb1 wrote: »

According to the court clerk it cannot be dealt with by the guards now as a judgement has been made so i have to apply for leave to appeal.The guard i spoke to last week thinks the sergeant might be able to do something though so fingers crossed.

The court clerk is correct, there really isn't a lot the guards can do now, you'll need to go through with the appeal etc etc but the guard may strike it out on the day.

SB2013

Perhaps you missed the whole penalty points scandal that happened last year. It's unlikely any fines such as this will be cancelled anymore for fear of accusations of corruption. When it comes to fines, unless you get some written notification you should proceed as if it has not been cancelled

whomitconcerns

In January i received a court summons for non payment of a fine i never received. I again called he sergeant and was told not to bother turning up in court that he would take care of it.

You received an official written court summons and chose to ignore it based on the telephone word of someone? I am sorry for the situation your in OP but surely that was not the best decision?

emffb1

I did not choose to ignore it. I dealt with it, gardai are able to deal situations like this every day of the week and thats a fact. I was not in the wrong, the guard with the attitude was and the sergeant knows it. I have my phone bill to prove it.

SB2013

emffb1 wrote: »

I did not choose to ignore it. I dealt with it, gardai are able to deal situations like this every day of the week and thats a fact. I was not in the wrong, the guard with the attitude was and the sergeant knows it. I have my phone bill to prove it.

What will a phone bill prove?

seb65

SB2013 wrote: »

What will a phone bill prove?

That he was not on the phone when they guard said he was.

Ken.

Phone bill doesn't show incoming calls.

slimjimmc

seb65 wrote: »

That he was not on the phone when they guard said he was.

The offence is for holding a mobile phone, the op didn't mention anything about the Garda saying he was on the phone (using it for calls). Phone records are irrelevant because they don't prove the accused didn't hold the phone. Even the simple action of just handing it over to his kids while he was driving would be a beach of the law

emffb1

The accusation was that I was using my phone not holding it. I was not passing it to my children. They had it in the back of the car for at least twenty mins before the incident.

I did not post this for any other reason than to ask advice on what way this could turn out when I appeal to the judge on Thursday. I know I was not on the phone and I would have paid the fine if I had been. As I stated when I initially posted the sergeant in charge of the traffic corps ordered the guard in question to drop the charge and it was a clerical error that it was processed. By the way I am a woman not a man.

SB2013

emffb1 wrote: »

The accusation was that I was using my phone not holding it. I was not passing it to my children. They had it in the back of the car for at least twenty mins before the incident.

I did not post this for any other reason than to ask advice on what way this could turn out when I appeal to the judge on Thursday. I know I was not on the phone and I would have paid the fine if I had been. As I stated when I initially posted the sergeant in charge of the traffic corps ordered the guard in question to drop the charge and it was a clerical error that it was processed. By the way I am a woman not a man.

There is no offence of using a phone. The offence is holding it.

A Garda cannot be ordered to cancel a fixed charge penalty by a Sergeant. In fact, a Garda cannot cancel a fixed charge penalty at all.

emffb1

As i already stated SB2013 i was NOT HOLDING THE PHONE. The fixed penalty had not been issued when the sergeant gave the order. I spoke to the sergeant immediately after the incident. And by the way i received no fine in the post. The first i heard of anything was the court summons.

K.Flyer

To be honest OP if I was you at this stage I would be seeking advice from your / a solicitor to ensure you dont end up with any further problems.
Whilst people here will have opinion and genuine good intention with advice I think if you want to contest your fines and judgement effectively you will most likely need a solicitor on your side to get you through it. It might cost a few bob, but what price is it worth to try to clear your name etc.

emffb1

You are right K. Flyer. Have to go to court tomorrow to ask judge for right to appeal so as soon as i have that done i will consult a solicitor...

Zambia

Not really directed at you OP.

The Gardai at present I am sure are pretty heavily overworked due to cut backs etc. Now a Penalty notice is designed to stop the whole rigamrole of going to court. Once the notice is issued it means the Garda is 100% positive the offence has been committed.

So if you are 100% they are wrong the place to debate the issue is in court. The practice of chasing the Garda around stations and various sergeants is ludicrous. They dont care, the issue is dealt with as far as they are concerned. The offenders recourse is clear, apply to have the matter heard at court.

Now if the offender is found innocent I am sure they can apply to the court for costs for going to court.

In your case OP when the Sergeant said don't worry about a court summons. I would have replied "Thanks Sergeant I will be in to the station in about 30 mins to pick that up in writing"