Parking ticket incorrectly issued, received summons

Ninjavampire

My FIL received notice of a parking ticket last November for parking on double yellow lines in Lucan. Problem is, he lives in Mayo and was at work that day with his car (has proof with clock in card at work). He called up the council when the ticket was issued and was told that was fine, sorry for the hassle. Two weeks ago he then had two guards at the door issuing a summons for DC in Dublin for the offense. He explained this to the guards and they said just pay the fine.

What are our options here? Obviously he doesn’t want to pay the 80 quid when he definitely wasn’t there but he can’t travel all the way down to Dublin and get a solicitor to help him, it would cost 5 times that amount and he’d have to take time off work.

Would it be worth contacting the guard on the summons over the phone? If the registration was taken down incorrectly, the car they issued the ticket for is probably a completely different model.

The court date is the end of May so he has until a week before to pay the fine.

Also my FIL is Polish and would struggle to adequately explain the situation over the phone so I would have to call on his behalf.

Thanks in advance!

Victor

Ask the council if they have photos of the car.

hullaballoo

Your FIL has two options - 1. Pay the fine, or 2. Don't pay the fine and go to Court.

Personally, I would find a solicitor in the Court District that issued the summons and get them to write to the Superintendent for the District requesting written confirmation the summons will be struck out, otherwise there will be a full fight and an application for both costs and out-of-pocket expenses (to include an approved Polish translator) will be made should that be necessitated.

I'm a bit bullish though so it might suit your FIL to simply stump up the cash to be done with it.

Ninjavampire

Victor wrote: »

Ask the council if they have photos of the car.

I wasn’t sure was it the council or the guards I’d have to ask for that.

Is this anything to do with the council at this stage if the Gardai are the ones summoning my FIL? The payment for the fine goes to the guards as well so I haven’t a clue!

Thanks for the advice!

Ninjavampire

hullaballoo wrote: »

Your FIL has two options - 1. Pay the fine, or 2. Don't pay the fine and go to Court.

Personally, I would find a solicitor in the Court District that issued the summons and get them to write to the Superintendent for the District requesting written confirmation the summons will be struck out, otherwise there will be a full fight and an application for both costs and out-of-pocket expenses (to include an approved Polish translator) will be made should that be necessitated.

I'm a bit bullish though so it might suit your FIL to simply stump up the cash to be done with it.

Is it realistic that there would be expenses paid out for a Parking ticket dispute in the DC? I would have thought it was a long shot!

hullaballoo

Not in ordinary circumstances but where someone is wrongly prosecuted, it can happen.

Lmklad

The summons will have the issuing persons name on it. Either the traffic warden or Garda. Gardai are usually tasked with serving summonses so might not necessarily be them that issued. If it’s a guard ring the station and ask to speak with him. If it’s the council ring the council ticketing office. If he can provide proof now they may tell him he won’t be required in court. Otherwise the options are pay the fine or go to court.