Have not received my summons after 6 months; what happens now?

matchboxyouth

Last August I was arrested for driving with drink taken. It was a stupid decision I made at the time and something I've learned from. No one was hurt, nothing happened to the car, I was actually stopped about 90 seconds later as I had pulled off in a well lit area without lights on; something I've done sober on rare occasions, let alone when I had been drinking.
Anyway, I've been waiting the last 6 months for the summons to arrive so I can just begin the ban and get things over with but I've received nothing yet. I've read about cases not being heard as summons' were not served within a 6 month timeframe and even some cases that initially had a ban given but was then appealed with success as the summons was not served within the 6 month period. Then I've read that nearly half of all drink driving charges in Ireland are struck out because of technicalities and other faults like this.

Can anyone clarify what happens here? I've accepted that what I did was entirely wrong and I've been waiting on the court date and ban as I know what I did was wrong. I'm not sure about some people but this is something I've done once and learned from; I would not do something like this again.

Obviously now, if this is something I can contest due to a technicality I will hope to do so. Does anyone have some experience in this matter? Thank you

hullaballoo

Plenty of people have experience dealing with this kind of thing. But they are professionals and do so for a fee.

It would be well worth talking to one such professional to defend you. As you say, drink driving is difficult to prosecute and there is a decent prospect of getting a favourable result.

But only if you have a solicitor (and usually counsel) to represent you.

I would be calling some local solicitors firms asap to see which ones can deal with this and getting a price to start putting something aside to deal with this.

Unfortunately, you won't get much more than judgemental high horsing and hand wringing here ime.

There isn't really much further useful discussion to be had so I will keep an eye on the quality of replies and if necessary close this thread in the event it goes as expected.

Victor

Is your address up to date on your driving licence?

NUTLEY BOY

On the general issues arising - not legal advice.

There is a popular misunderstanding about the 6 months time limit.

A potential defendant does not have to be served within 6 months of the date of the alleged offence. What has to happen within 6 months is that an application for a summons has to have been received by the relevant summons office. This application must happen within 6 months of the date of the alleged offence.

Therefore, the accused may find themselves validly served outside of 6 months from the date of the alleged offence.

P.S. Any attempts to deal with RTA prosecutions on technical points - and there are many - are best left to the experts.

doolox

I recall in other reported cases for traffic offences where the summonses were lost in the post and the defendants were the subject of a personal and early morning call from the Gardai and their resultant penalties were higher because the court thought that the defendant had received the original summons but chose to ignore it.

Because there is no straightforward way to make enquiries regarding this delicate matter without the danger of reminding the Member of AGS of the event in case he forgot to proceed with it, my first port of call would be a solicitor, preferably on who specialises in drink driving cases. Omissions like these are rarer where there is a number of Gardai on an assigned checkpoint but could happen if you are stopped by an individual Garda for something else, having no lights on after dark or erratic driving are classic examples of this.

You are best advised to keep this info as much as possible from public view because you do not know who among your acquaintances and work colleagues might be personally affected by an accident attributed to drink driving and might take a very dim view of this event. Hence the need to carefully select your solicitor and the need to select one who specialises in handling drink driving cases.

I have been stopped twice at night and breath tested only once in my 40 years of driving and have found the Gardai to be very sympathetic and professional at all times in their dealings with me. Also stopped a few times as a passenger and their dealings with the driver depended very much on the attitude and demeanour of the driver.

First time I was stopped a fast driver nearly hit my cars rear end and this event deflected the Guards attention to a new and juicier target.... I was told to proceed while the Guard went on to deal with his new target.

I was lucky.

This happened many years ago and was quite literally a sobering experience.

On another occasion me and a group of friends on our way to a party passed by a scene of a very recent accident involving an ESB pole and a light van. It was very clearly a fatal encounter for the driver involved judging by the impact on the windscreen etc. We decided to go home and forego the party that night.
Its amazing how fast levity and mirth can turn to horror and sober reflection in seconds.

Best of luck with whatever happens.

cobhguy28

doolox wrote: »

I recall in other reported cases for traffic offences where the summonses were lost in the post and the defendants were the subject of a personal and early morning call from the Gardai and their resultant penalties were higher because the court thought that the defendant had received the original summons but chose to ignore it.

Criminal summonses have to be served in person not by post. What you are thinking of is traffic fines by post.

CoBo55

A friend of mine thought he'd gotten away with it as it had passed this 6 month fable that seems to be doing the rounds. He got a court date 11 months after the offence was committed, he got a 4 year ban which he never saw out as he died a year later.

L1011

That there's a 6 month time isn't a fable - but it's 6 months to get the summons produced, not served which is the bit people forget

4ensic15

cobhguy28 wrote: »

Criminal summonses have to be served in person not by post. What you are thinking of is traffic fines by post.

Summons do not have to be served in person. The majority are served by post.

Finnbar01

4ensic15 wrote: »

Summons do not have to be served in person. The majority are served by post.

Is it by registered post and do they have to be signed for?

GM228

Finnbar01 wrote: »

Is it by registered post and do they have to be signed for?

Standard post usually which strictly speaking is not a lawful method of service. They should be via registered/recorded post if sent via the post.

RobbieMD

Finnbar01 wrote: »

Is it by registered post and do they have to be signed for?

There is a particular Garda district that sends most summons out by registered post. There are some exceptions that require a separate declaration to be filled in by the serving member, for example speeding by GoSafe has a photo printout to accompany the summons.