Galway solicitor for speeding fine?

obi604

Out of the blue a month ago got a call from a
warrants officer in Dublin about an unpaid speeding fine from 2016, yes 5 years ago ( via one of these speeding vans)

He said he would send to the local
Garda station to deal with in the courts down here.

We moved from Dublin to Galway in 2015. We paid an post 70 Euro to re direct our mail for 3 months. The car was taxed for the year so it did not even enter our heads to do the change of address for car tax until the tax came around. Which was a few months after the offence.

So in essence we were sent a fine for speeding to our old address and a summons to court and supposedly there was a hand delivered warrant to the old address (an apartment block with gates entry etc) and we never turned up in court as we never knew about it.

All of this happened without us having knowledge until we got the call a month ago - where he sent the case down to the local Garda station.

Anyone ever have this happen to them?
Supposedly we have to go to court now.

obi604

Could anyone recommend a solicitor in Galway that deals with road traffic incidents (speeding fine)

In a nutshell, back in 2016, a speed van caught me speeding. 57 in a 50.
At this time, We moved from Dublin to Galway and didn’t change our address for the car tax until months later (hands up)

So we never had any knowledge of the fines, summons to court etc

Now 5 years later, a warrants officer is chasing this up and looks like court. So looking for a solicitor in Galway that is familiar with this kind of stuff.

Storm 10

obi604 wrote: »

Could anyone recommend a solicitor in Galway that deals with road traffic incidents (speeding fine)

In a nutshell, back in 2016, a speed van caught me speeding. 57 in a 50.
At this time, We moved from Dublin to Galway and didn’t change our address for the car tax until months later (hands up)

So we never had any knowledge of the fines, summons to court etc

Now 5 years later, a warrants officer is chasing this up and looks like court. So looking for a solicitor in Galway that is familiar with this kind of stuff.

Would it not be cheaper to pay the fine you were speeding and should have changed your address

obi604

Storm 10 wrote: »

Would it not be cheaper to pay the fine you were speeding and should have changed your address

ive no bother paying it at all, but the warrants officer said to contest it and becasue we didnt pay the fine, the points may double to 6 etc


just wondering on the best course of action really

Good chance the solicitor fees might be more than the fine.

Edit: Just saw the comment about points doubling, that'll increase your insurance premium too. May be worth trying to get it back to the original fine and points which were due.

Isambard

how will you contest it? you admit you were speeding and you say it's your fault you didn't get the paperwork because you didn't change your address. You may as well save the cost of the Solicitor.

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Good chance the solicitor fees might be more than the fine.

Edit: Just saw the comment about points doubling, that'll increase your insurance premium too. May be worth trying to get it back to the original fine and points which were due.

The conviction would also increase the premium. Much better to get a solicitor, they’ll get it probably overturned and thrown out.

obi604

Isambard wrote: »

how will you contest it? you admit you were speeding and you say it's your fault you didn't get the paperwork because you didn't change your address. You may as well save the cost of the Solicitor.

To be honest, I dont even know what I was doing on this date, not even sure who was driving the car, could have been me or the wife.

This is what im tryng to find out.
Whatever I did or didn't do, I never got a letter about a speeding offense, so there is no way I could ever have paid it

jrosen

Solicitor or no solicitor this could go either way. The “I didn’t get the notice” excuse doesn’t always wash. It’s your responsibility to register your car to your address. The judge might accept your mistake and you pay the fine and the points that came originally or he could double them.

I was in court some years back for a late fine (my own fault) judge didn’t allow anyone to speak really. Anyone who started with the “it’s not my fault” was told to stop talking. Every fine/point was doubled with one being tripled.
I don’t know if I’d be bothered paying a solicitor. Your better off going in holding your hands up and accepting the punishment

Isambard

jrosen wrote: »

Solicitor or no solicitor this could go either way. The “I didn’t get the notice” excuse doesn’t always wash. It’s your responsibility to register your car to your address. The judge might accept your mistake and you pay the fine and the points that came originally or he could double them.

I was in court some years back for a late fine (my own fault) judge didn’t allow anyone to speak really. Anyone who started with the “it’s not my fault” was told to stop talking. Every fine/point was doubled with one being tripled.
I don’t know if I’d be bothered paying a solicitor. Your better off going in holding your hands up and accepting the punishment

That would be my approach, explain you take full responsibility, but you forgot to change your address and didn't get the notice at the time.

obi604

Isambard wrote: »

That would be my approach, explain you take full responsibility, but you forgot to change your address and didn't get the notice at the time.

Thanks, I suppose this is waht im looking for, an apparoach, I havent a breeze of how to deal with this.



I have an excel file built up detailing the time of moves, when car was taxed etc



strange thing seems to be , you can go online and tax your car and get it sent to an address. but this does not equal a change of address, the change of address seems to be a different process.

Explosive_Cornflake

Aren't you going to be a lot more respected rolling in with a solicitor? I would think the judge would view you in better light that you are taking it seriously.

Mooretaxi

obi604 wrote: »

Out of the blue a month ago got a call from a
warrants officer in Dublin about an unpaid speeding fine from 2016, yes 5 years ago ( via one of these speeding vans)

He said he would send to the local
Garda station to deal with in the courts down here.

We moved from Dublin to Galway in 2015. We paid an post 70 Euro to re direct our mail for 3 months. The car was taxed for the year so it did not even enter our heads to do the change of address for car tax until the tax came around. Which was a few months after the offence.

So in essence we were sent a fine for speeding to our old address and a summons to court and supposedly there was a hand delivered warrant to the old address (an apartment block with gates entry etc) and we never turned up in court as we never knew about it.

All of this happened without us having knowledge until we got the call a month ago - where he sent the case down to the local Garda station.

Anyone ever have this happen to them?
Supposedly we have to go to court now.

Why not make an appointment to discuss your situation with a member of the roads policing unit in the new station in renmore, they are very reasonable people and will be able to give assistance in your case.
I've seen your post in another section looking for a galway solicitor to represent you in court, thankfully I haven't been in court since 1994 when I had a summons for speeding going into limerick. clarecastle Court that day seemed to be dealing with only motoring offences, there was One solicitor pleading the cases on behalf of multiple offenders and there were many more people like myself who turned up to deal with the charge, in all the cases that were called before mine every case handled by the solicitor had hefty fines imposed but all of the cases where the offender was present were dismissed with no fine. So maybe if you were to represent yourself in court and explain the situation you might only have to deal with the original summons and save the money you'd pay the solicitor and use it to pay the fine

Greentree_uk

Yes had this happen, court will likely throw it out - did in our case, but you will need to attend. we had no way of knowing who was driving.

obi604

Greentree_uk wrote: »

Yes had this happen, court will likely throw it out - did in our case, but you will need to attend. we had no way of knowing who was driving.

did you get a solicitor etc?

Greentree_uk

no need its just a speeding fine.

jrosen

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

Aren't you going to be a lot more respected rolling in with a solicitor? I would think the judge would view you in better light that you are taking it seriously.

I would think the exact opposite.

Eire392

Not something to be losing much sleep over. Contact someone in warrants in your local station and talk to them. Arrange to meet them at your local court whatever day it is sitting. Judge will be grand that you have met by arrangement and for something so minor, probably be thrown out if you said you didn't get it.

Greentree_uk

just to add to this, guards will probably ask you if you have any intention of going to court to notify them - DON'T if they are not there it will be thrown out for sure.

Wishbone Ash

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

Aren't you going to be a lot more respected rolling in with a solicitor? I would think the judge would view you in better light that you are taking it seriously.

Not necessarily. There used to be a solicitor down around Tipperary direction who used to go harder on those who appeared with a solicitor for speeding charges.

Eire392

Greentree_uk wrote: »

just to add to this, cards will probably ask you if you have any intention of going to court to notify them - DON'T if they are not there it will be thrown out for sure.

Don't listen to this this is incorrect.

Your warrant and the speeding fine are two seperate issues.

obi604

Greentree_uk wrote: »

just to add to this, cards will probably ask you if you have any intention of going to court to notify them - DON'T if they are not there it will be thrown out for sure.

does cards = guards?



I dont get what your saying

Eire392

obi604 wrote: »

does cards = guards?



I dont get what your saying

He seems to think that by you showing up and not telling the guards in advance it'll just be struck out


Your warrant has been sent to your local station so you can get the warrant executed at your local court by arrangement. However the speeding fine is from Dublin. The judge in Galway may strike it out or could send it back to Dublin court date where you would need to attend or a warrant be issued again

Meeoow

obi604 wrote: »

Thanks, I suppose this is waht im looking for, an apparoach, I havent a breeze of how to deal with this.


strange thing seems to be , you can go online and tax your car and get it sent to an address. but this does not equal a change of address, the change of address seems to be a different process.

What is the procedure to change address? I moved 2 years ago, and changed address for tax and insurance.

obi604

Eire392 wrote: »

He seems to think that by you showing up and not telling the guards in advance it'll just be struck out


Your warrant has been sent to your local station so you can get the warrant executed at your local court by arrangement. However the speeding fine is from Dublin. The judge in Galway may strike it out or could send it back to Dublin court date where you would need to attend or a warrant be issued again

good jaysus, not easy.

so could end up in Dublin yet

oh god.

obi604

jrosen wrote: »

I would think the exact opposite.

hmmm, right, not sure what route to go down

Eire392

Meeoow wrote: »

What is the procedure to change address? I moved 2 years ago, and changed address for tax and insurance.

Fill in back of log book and send it off

obi604

hi
could a mod merge this thread in to this one: https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058160122

UrbanFret

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

Aren't you going to be a lot more respected rolling in with a solicitor? I would think the judge would view you in better light that you are taking it seriously.

Overpaid and overrated. It's not as if you are contesting the summons.

TimHorton

jrosen wrote: »

Solicitor or no solicitor this could go either way. The “I didn’t get the notice” excuse doesn’t always wash. It’s your responsibility to register your car to your address. The judge might accept your mistake and you pay the fine and the points that came originally or he could double them.

I was in court some years back for a late fine (my own fault) judge didn’t allow anyone to speak really. Anyone who started with the “it’s not my fault” was told to stop talking. Every fine/point was doubled with one being tripled.
I don’t know if I’d be bothered paying a solicitor. Your better off going in holding your hands up and accepting the punishment

Very unfair, I was in court one day and a guy was very harshly treated by a judge, The speeding fine was sent to the car hire company who did nothing until the summons arrived and only advised the customer 2 days before court that they had a summons in his name..

obi604

Mooretaxi wrote: »

Why not make an appointment to discuss your situation with a member of the roads policing unit in the new station in renmore, they are very reasonable people and will be able to give assistance in your case.
I've seen your post in another section looking for a galway solicitor to represent you in court, thankfully I haven't been in court since 1994 when I had a summons for speeding going into limerick. clarecastle Court that day seemed to be dealing with only motoring offences, there was One solicitor pleading the cases on behalf of multiple offenders and there were many more people like myself who turned up to deal with the charge, in all the cases that were called before mine every case handled by the solicitor had hefty fines imposed but all of the cases where the offender was present were dismissed with no fine. So maybe if you were to represent yourself in court and explain the situation you might only have to deal with the original summons and save the money you'd pay the solicitor and use it to pay the fine

Hi


The warrants office in Dublin Rang me and passed the case to the local garda station.



the garda station rang and said there is a warrant out for my arrest.



they advised to ring the court house to see the best way forward.


Is this roads policing unit thing free or what would they do?

obi604

Hi

Im just confused now as there has been lots of advise

1) Get a solicitor
2) Dont get a s solicitor
3) Make an appointment with a member of the roads policing unit
4) Contact someone in warrants in your local station and talk to them.

Then the talk of speeding fine from Dublin so could be sent to Dublin also in the future
The Garda from the local station that rang me advised to ring the court house to get advise, seems a bit strange

Meeoow

Eire392 wrote: »

Fill in back of log book and send it off

When you change address for tax, it negates the need to sign the log book.

obi604

Eire392 wrote: »

He seems to think that by you showing up and not telling the guards in advance it'll just be struck out


Your warrant has been sent to your local station so you can get the warrant executed at your local court by arrangement. However the speeding fine is from Dublin. The judge in Galway may strike it out or could send it back to Dublin court date where you would need to attend or a warrant be issued again

When you say "you can get the warrant executed at your local court by arrangement." Do you mean get rid of the warrant?

Isambard

no I think he means you can arrange to hand yourself in.


If it's gone as far as arrest warrants , I think you better go back to your plan A and get a solicitor.

obi604

Isambard wrote: »

no I think he means you can arrange to hand yourself in.


If it's gone as far as arrest warrants , I think you better go back to your plan A and get a solicitor.

yeah, the guard called at about 8pm on flippin Saturday night saying a warrant out for your arrest........ first thing she said.
She must have thought about it again - cause she rang 30 minutes later saying not to worry, we wont be turning up at your door to arrest you.

its just an un nerving call to get at 8pm on a Saturday night , "do you know there is a warrant out for your arrest"



So yeah, supposedly in my absence from the Dublin court, I was convicted in sept 2016 of this offence and fined 120 euro

and now 5 years later or so have a warrant out for my arrest
I don't have all the details so trying to piece them together


and car is registered in wifes name , but I think I was the one driving, but not sure as was a long time ago

obi604

Mooretaxi wrote: »

Why not make an appointment to discuss your situation with a member of the roads policing unit in the new station in renmore, they are very reasonable people and will be able to give assistance in your case.
I've seen your post in another section looking for a galway solicitor to represent you in court, thankfully I haven't been in court since 1994 when I had a summons for speeding going into limerick. clarecastle Court that day seemed to be dealing with only motoring offences, there was One solicitor pleading the cases on behalf of multiple offenders and there were many more people like myself who turned up to deal with the charge, in all the cases that were called before mine every case handled by the solicitor had hefty fines imposed but all of the cases where the offender was present were dismissed with no fine. So maybe if you were to represent yourself in court and explain the situation you might only have to deal with the original summons and save the money you'd pay the solicitor and use it to pay the fine

HI, what would I be asking these people in particular?

Isambard

obi604 wrote: »

yeah, the guard called at about 8pm on flippin Saturday night saying a warrant out for your arrest........ first thing she said.
She must have thought about it again - cause she rang 30 minutes later saying not to worry, we wont be turning up at your door to arrest you.

its just an un nerving call to get at 8pm on a Saturday night , "do you know there is a warrant out for your arrest"



So yeah, supposedly in my absence from the Dublin court, I was convicted in sept 2016 of this offence and fined 120 euro

and now 5 years later or so have a warrant out for my arrest
I don't have all the details so trying to piece them together


and car is registered in wifes name , but I think I was the one driving, but not sure as was a long time ago

So the warrant must be for non-payment of the fine? You should check with the RSA to see if you got points added. I'm puzzled as to how they could prosecute you if it's your Wife's car, I'd have thought it would be her prosecuted in her absence. Where did they get your details?

obi604

Isambard wrote: »

So the warrant must be for non-payment of the fine? You should check with the RSA to see if you got points added. I'm puzzled as to how they could prosecute you if it's your Wife's car, I'd have thought it would be her prosecuted in her absence. Where did they get your details?

just for easiness, I was saying me

didn't want to confuse things even more.



its in her name so I guess she got the convictiosn in 2016, but as I said, all very sketchy and we are tryign to piece it all together

obi604

obi604 wrote: »

Hi


The warrants office in Dublin Rang me and passed the case to the local garda station.



the garda station rang and said there is a warrant out for my arrest.



they advised to ring the court house to see the best way forward.


Is this roads policing unit thing free or what would they do?

If there is a warrant out for your arrest then go see a solicitor immediately.

This isn't simply a speeding ticket issue now, obviously you wont be going to jail or anything but the Garda wont have a clue advising you on a course of action to take from here. Especially not one that will get this cleared up in the quickest possible time frame, causing you the least amount of hassle.

If you go to a station to present yourself and there is a warrant out for your arrest it would be absolutely irresponsible to go without having a solicitor with you.

obi604

update, we rang the court as herself was really anxious with the whole "warrant for her arrest" etc
Girl we spoke to was very calm, was half laughing when we mentioned warrants for arrest and all this
she advised us to pay the fine, she gave us a reference and a PIN, we then went to courts.ie and paid it
she is not sure what happens the points now, she reckons they are gone as offence happened in 2016 and wife was convicted in her absence of court supposedly
she told us wait for proof the fine paid to get through to the garda system and then contact them and say you spoke to courts and paid the fine
not sure what happens next or if this is too simplistic

Few thing things I need to figure out now
• Does wife have a motoring conviction recorded against her name
• Is the warrant for her arrest now gone
• Has she points on her license

RobbieMD

Lyla Scary Palate wrote: »

If there is a warrant out for your arrest then go see a solicitor immediately.

This isn't simply a speeding ticket issue now, obviously you wont be going to jail or anything but the Garda wont have a clue advising you on a course of action to take from here. Especially not one that will get this cleared up in the quickest possible time frame, causing you the least amount of hassle.

If you go to a station to present yourself and there is a warrant out for your arrest it would be absolutely irresponsible to go without having a solicitor with you.

When you say obviously you won’t be going to jail, that’s misleading. If a fine isn’t paid, the warrant that’s issued after non payment is a committal warrant. I.E. a warrant to commit whoever is named in whatever prison is named for however long the warrant states. There may be costs attached to the warrant separate from any fine. This is written on the warrant. The prison won’t release you early if there are costs attached. They will hold you for the time stated. If costs are paid, you’ll likely be held a few hours and released.

You can always consult a solicitor and appeal the case. The Gardai will be notified the matter is under appeal and you won’t be arrested on foot of the warrant. Get a solicitor who practices criminal law in the court you’ll be attending.

If you attend a Garda station, even with a solicitor, and the Garda is aware you have an outstanding warrant, then a solicitor cannot stop that Garda from arresting you. These matters are generally dealt with by appointment nowadays especially with the courts situation and COVID.

mikeecho

Step 1: phone your local station, and look to speak to the warrants officer.
2. Find out what the warrant is for, is it a fines warrant ( or you were convicted in your absence and you have a fine to pay)
Or is it a bench warrant, ie a warrant to arrest for not turning up to court.

3. If it's just a fines warrant, pay the money.
3a. If it's a bench warrant, then your speeding case hasn't been concluded, and you'll just have to turn up to court, and they will set a date for your speeding case to be heard.

If you find yourself at step 3a., Only then consider employing a solicitor.

Anyway.. if you get a solicitor now, they'll only be asking what type of warrant is in existence for you.

obi604

mikeecho wrote: »

Step 1: phone your local station, and look to speak to the warrants officer.
2. Find out what the warrant is for, is it a fines warrant ( or you were convicted in your absence and you have a fine to pay)
Or is it a bench warrant, ie a warrant to arrest for not turning up to court.

3. If it's just a fines warrant, pay the money.
3a. If it's a bench warrant, then your speeding case hasn't been concluded, and you'll just have to turn up to court, and they will set a date for your speeding case to be heard.

If you find yourself at step 3a., Only then consider employing a solicitor.

Anyway.. if you get a solicitor now, they'll only be asking what type of warrant is in existence for you.

Hi. Thanks for input. See the post from an hour ago. We paid the fine via the courts.ie website today.

Not sure if right or wrong thing but herself went off on a tangent.

Also, supposedly the wife was convicted in her absence from court.

newmember2

mikeecho wrote: »

Step 1: phone your local station, and look to speak to the warrants officer.
2. Find out what the warrant is for, is it a fines warrant ( or you were convicted in your absence and you have a fine to pay)
Or is it a bench warrant, ie a warrant to arrest for not turning up to court.

3. If it's just a fines warrant, pay the money.
3a. If it's a bench warrant, then your speeding case hasn't been concluded, and you'll just have to turn up to court, and they will set a date for your speeding case to be heard.

If you find yourself at step 3a., Only then consider employing a solicitor.

Anyway.. if you get a solicitor now, they'll only be asking what type of warrant is in existence for you.

Going by the girl in the court office above it looks like a warrant for non-paynent, but OP you need to get this explicitly confirmed by the court office.

obi604

newmember? wrote: »

Going by the girl in the court office above it looks like a warrant for non-paynent, but OP you need to get this explicitly confirmed by the court office.

Thank you. Will give her another ring tomorrow.

Dr_Colossus

Nothing to add but just to say sorry for your trouble OP. What a ridiculous situation all following from doing 57 in a 50 zone 5 years ago. Does it really take that long for the legal system to enact anything or do cases remain open indefinitely.

RobbieMD wrote: »

You can always consult a solicitor and appeal the case. The Gardai will be notified the matter is under appeal and you won’t be arrested on foot of the warrant. Get a solicitor who practices criminal law in the court you’ll be attending.

Criminal? Is there no better/suitable category for unpaid speeding tickets even after the issuance of a warrant.

jimmycrackcorm

obi604 wrote: »

Few thing things I need to figure out now
• Does wife have a motoring conviction recorded against her name
• Is the warrant for her arrest now gone
• Has she points on her license

The court conviction in 2016 is by and large irrelevant now.
As per your advice, contact the local garda station once you have proof of the fine being paid.
Unless you provided the driver licence at some point, then there won't be points on the licence. In any case, you can request the record from the NDLS.

obi604

Dr_Colossus wrote: »

Nothing to add but just to say sorry for your trouble OP. What a ridiculous situation all following from doing 57 in a 50 zone 5 years ago. Does it really take that long for the legal system to enact anything or do cases remain open indefinitely.



Criminal? Is there no better/suitable category for unpaid speeding tickets even after the issuance of a warrant.

Thanks man. I’ve been saying the age old thing the last day or so, have they not better things to be doing than chasing a 5 year old nothing

Fair enough, I’ll pay the fine or whatever, but all the talk of courts and warrants and convictions and arrests and points and solicitors and warrants officers and summons and guards and judges and criminal solicitors etc etc.

It’s like going on to Dr google for a cold and ending up with cancer.

obi604

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

The court conviction in 2016 is by and large irrelevant now.
As per your advice, contact the local garda station once you have proof of the fine being paid.
Unless you provided the driver licence at some point, then there won't be points on the licence. In any case, you can request the record from the NDLS.

But if asked the question “have you ever been convicted of a motoring offence” (or whatever the wordage is) - what is the answer?

Jim_Hodge

obi604 wrote: »

But if asked the question “have you ever been convicted of a motoring offence” (or whatever the wordage is) - what is the answer?

Haven't you already been convicted?