Wrongful Driving Disqualification

doneill27

A previous solicitor I was using also had a client with the same name as myself who received a driving disqualification. The solicitor lodged an appeal to fight this other persons disqualification but registered the appeal in my name in error and lost the appeal which resulted in getting me a two year disqualification on the other persons behalf. Unknowingly I had continued to drive my car and was stopped and convicted once again of driving whilst disqualified. Once the courts informed me of the mistaken identity the solicitor has been avoiding me. Has anything like this happened to any other members? Im not sure on what legal steps to take to remedy the situation and I also want to be reimbursed for all the fines and impound fees i had to pay.

Pat Mustard

doneill27 wrote: »

Unknowingly I had continued to drive my car and was stopped and convicted once again of driving whilst disqualified.

Really?

No talking to the Garda who stopped you? No attempt to point out that it was actually another man who was disqualified? No Garda attempt to check the other man's address, car registration or date of birth? No attempt to show Gardai the error of their ways after getting the summons but before the court date? No defence in court? No mention of this to the judge?

Just like that?

doneill27

The Mustard wrote: »

Really?

No talking to the Garda who stopped you? No attempt to point out that it was actually another man who was disqualified? No Garda attempt to check the other man's address, car registration or date of birth? No attempt to show Gardai the error of their ways after getting the summons but before the court date? No defence in court? No mention of this to the judge?

Just like that?

I tried talking to the gardai explaining that I was never disqualified but it's on my record and their pulse system so they wouldn't listen to what I had to say. I wasn't made aware of the other mans disqualification until 18 months later. It was the solicitors error not the guards. The solicitor admitted the error. The courts told me that a persons DOB isn't always attached to their convictions so you can't prove what's yours and what's not. I never received any summons, it was only on the day of appeal that our personal details were mixed up.

Pat Mustard

doneill27 wrote: »

I tried talking to the gardai explaining that I was never disqualified but it's on my record and their pulse system so they wouldn't listen to what I had to say. I wasn't made aware of the other mans disqualification until 18 months later. It was the solicitors error not the guards. The solicitor admitted the error. The courts told me that a persons DOB isn't always attached to their convictions so you can't prove what's yours and what's not. I never received any summons, it was only on the day of appeal that our personal details were mixed up.

There are two possibilities here:

1. Your story has more holes than a Swiss cheese, but is somehow true. If this is the case, then you need a solicitor to look into this matter for you.

OR,

2. Your story has more holes than a Swiss cheese and lacks credibility of any kind.

doneill27

The Mustard wrote: »

There are two possibilities here:

1. Your story has more holes than a Swiss cheese, but is somehow true. If this is the case, then you need a solicitor to look into this matter for you.

OR,

2. Your story has more holes than a Swiss cheese and lacks credibility of any kind.

I know it has holes, neither the gardai or the courts will give me the full details of what happened unless it's requested by my solicitor under the freedom of information act. So far all I know is that I have been wrongfully accused. The solicitor that made the error keeps disappearing anytime I call to his office and won't return my calls.

Pat Mustard

doneill27 wrote: »

I know it has holes, neither the gardai or the courts will give me the full details of what happened unless it's requested by my solicitor under the freedom of information act. So far all I know is that I have been wrongfully accused. The solicitor that made the error keeps disappearing anytime I call to his office and won't return my calls.

Brilliant.

As I suspect that you are a solicitor or trainee from your manner of writing, I imagine that you will have little difficulty.

doneill27

The Mustard wrote: »

Brilliant.

As I suspect that you are a solicitor or trainee from your manner of writing, I imagine that you will have little difficulty.

No I'm not a solicitor. I'm just looking for a way to remedy what happened as you can only appeal a conviction once. I've never found myself in this situation so I don't know what steps to take. I was hoping that someone on here might be able to steer me in the right direction.

Pat Mustard

doneill27 wrote: »

No I'm not a solicitor. I'm just looking for a way to remedy what happened as you can only appeal a conviction once. I've never found myself in this situation so I don't know what steps to take. I was hoping that someone on here might be able to steer me in the right direction.

Seriously, who uses the word 'remedy'? Honestly? Go on, admit that you're a lawyer.

doneill27

The Mustard wrote: »

Seriously, who uses the word 'remedy'? Honestly? Go on, admit that you're a lawyer.

Haha honestly I'm just a factory worker if I was a lawyer then I wouldn't need advice, I'd already know how the law works.

Pat Mustard

doneill27 wrote: »

Haha honestly I'm just a factory worker if I was a lawyer then I wouldn't need advice, I'd already know how the law works.

Uhuh. Goodnight now.

Pro Hoc Vice

doneill27 wrote: »

I tried talking to the gardai explaining that I was never disqualified but it's on my record and their pulse system so they wouldn't listen to what I had to say. I wasn't made aware of the other mans disqualification until 18 months later. It was the solicitors error not the guards. The solicitor admitted the error. The courts told me that a persons DOB isn't always attached to their convictions so you can't prove what's yours and what's not. I never received any summons, it was only on the day of appeal that our personal details were mixed up.

This story does not add up. A DOB is always recorded in Pulse. I have seen pulse print outs. If this happened it is very simple to sort out, if the solicitor is not willing to fix it get another one.

Del2005

doneill27 wrote: »

I know it has holes, neither the gardai or the courts will give me the full details of what happened unless it's requested by my solicitor under the freedom of information act. So far all I know is that I have been wrongfully accused. The solicitor that made the error keeps disappearing anytime I call to his office and won't return my calls.

You need a different solicitor to sort this out. One who specialises in motoring offences.

Mikros

This story is nonsense. A disqualification is never just recorded against a name. Otherwise if a "John Smith" was disqualified thousands of other "John Smiths" would be in trouble everytime they were stopped driving. Pull the other one.

FreudianSlippers

The Mustard wrote: »

Seriously, who uses the word 'remedy'? Honestly? Go on, admit that you're a lawyer.

I hope to god they're not... OP, you need a different solicitor. Despite the story being insanely ludicrous; if true, there might be professional negligence issues here and legal advice is the 'remedy' (see what I did there )

ldxo15wus6fpgm

Sounds like a 1st year degree essay question to me!

mrjoneill

What I understand it’s a constant issue this mix up of names with extended families that have the same common name and on previous convictions being called at trials its often not clear who is who.
I can understand the first conviction going unnoticed but why didn’t you receive a summons to appear in court to answer the charge of driving while disqualified. Surely explaining to the District Court judge your predicament would have him/her wanting the other side explain to what was going on. Surely it should have being flagged when you were asked to pay fines and penalties imposed. On the face of it you don’t have any conviction and you should make an appointment to see your local Garda superintendent to get the facts from him that are recorded and outline your case to the Dep of Justice. Failing a response from them I would contact the Ombudsman’s office. The bottom line here that is your case being bona-fide is you have no conviction, there is a recording issue.

Pat Mustard

mrjoneill wrote: »

What I understand it’s a constant issue this mix up of names with extended families that have the same common name and on previous convictions being called at trials its often not clear who is who.

There are certain parts of (especially rural) Ireland where certain names are extremely common. If you take the travelling community, certain names are very common; for example, John Ward.

There are approximately 14 million men named John O' Sullivan* in West Cork, yet there is no constant criticism of Gardai over wrongful convictions based on mistaken identities. There is no clamour of Judicial Review applications from West Cork.

This is a non-issue.


*Figures may be exaggerated