really old speeding fine

obi604

Hi, hoping someone can advise me here.

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 All the letters about this went to our old address.

First knowledge of this is 5 years later, a warrants officer rings me chasing this up and looks like court.



I have proof of sale of house in Dublin, new house in Galway, we even paid an post 70 euro to forward our mails, but only for 3 months



Warrants officer hinted at 2 options


1. can pay the 120 and then get 3 points on the license but no court
2. contest it in count and not pay anything other than a solicitor charge (so no points on license or paying of 120)



But he also said the points could be 6 instead of 3



Any thoughts on this type of thing

Thoie

obi604 wrote: »

Warrants officer hinted at 2 options


1. can pay the 120 and then get 3 points on the license but no court
2. contest it in count and not pay anything other than a solicitor charge (so no points on license or paying of 120)



But he also said the points could be 6 instead of 3



Any thoughts on this type of thing

I think the "6 instead of 3" is part of option 2.

If you go to court and contest it you'll either "win" (no points, no fine), or you'll lose, in which case you'll end up extra points and a bigger fine.

Unless you have cast iron proof from 2016 that you weren't speeding (for example, you were in a different country at the time the picture was taken), if I were you I'd pay the €120 and take the 3 points. If you're already on 9 points, and the 3 would disqualify you, then it might be worth the gamble of going to court.

delboythedub

could they not have checked out your new address against your motor tax details. Strange

MildThing84

Had something similar. Moved address, never received the fine. Was summonsed to court. Stood up, admitted to speeding (cant remember exact kmh but something similar to yourself) and the judge dismissed it on the basis that i genuinely never received the fine and wasnt driving the car like it was robbed.

Id be tempted to show up and contest the fact that you never received the fine. I wouldnt be going with a solicitor. You really don't need one and would be a waste of money from my experience (twice at these things).

But you need to weigh up if the 120 is cheaper than the half day needed and the effort.

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

cml387

• Does wife have a motoring conviction recorded against her name
Yes

• Is the warrant for her arrest now gone
Yes
• Has she points on her license
Yes. 6 points

obi604

cml387 wrote: »

• Does wife have a motoring conviction recorded against her name
Yes

• Is the warrant for her arrest now gone
Yes
• Has she points on her license
Yes. 6 points

how long does this conviction last?


why 6 points?

Patches oHoulihan

MildThing84 wrote: »

Had something similar. Moved address, never received the fine. Was summonsed to court. Stood up, admitted to speeding (cant remember exact kmh but something similar to yourself) and the judge dismissed it on the basis that i genuinely never received the fine and wasnt driving the car like it was robbed.

Id be tempted to show up and contest the fact that you never received the fine. I wouldnt be going with a solicitor. You really don't need one and would be a waste of money from my experience (twice at these things).

But you need to weigh up if the 120 is cheaper than the half day needed and the effort.

I did similar.
Moved house and person in old house never sent the mail on so we never got anything in the post.

I stood up in front of a judge and told him I moved and had all my papers.
He agreed it was all genuine but nevertheless I was speeding and had to pay my fine, and the costs of the court which was €80.

Just take the path of least resistance here,pay the fine and take the points. they go away after years.

Using words like conviction is not really helping.
Its not as if your wife is a rampaging criminal. Literally every motorist gets done for something at some point. dont sweat it

obi604

Patches oHoulihan wrote: »

I did similar.
Moved house and person in old house never sent the mail on so we never got anything in the post.

I stood up in front of a judge and told him I moved and had all my papers.
He agreed it was all genuine but nevertheless I was speeding and had to pay my fine, and the costs of the court which was €80.

Just take the path of least resistance here,pay the fine and take the points. they go away after years.

Using words like conviction is not really helping.
Its not as if your wife is a rampaging criminal. Literally every motorist gets done for something at some point. dont sweat it

yeah, but if she has 6 points on her license now and some conviction, could shag up insurance

poisonated

obi604 wrote: »

how long does this conviction last?


why 6 points?

Forever afaik bit you don’t have to disclose them after a crrtIn period of time. You’d be surprised what comes up in Garda vetting. I know this as I see them in work.

Lenar3556

obi604 wrote: »

yeah, but if she has 6 points on her license now and some conviction, could shag up insurance

The RSA will notify her in writing should any points be added or removed from her driving record.

obi604

Lenar3556 wrote: »

The RSA will notify her in writing should any points be added or removed from her driving record.

Thanks. Is there any way for a guard to check this ?

(We will have to talk to them in next few days anyway)

It’s 5 points on conviction, not 6. Also, given the license wasn’t handed in to the courts for recording the points, I’d suspect that no points will apply - that old loophole.

You can check your points by contacting the RSA.

Lenar3556

The €120 you paid - it that an outstanding court fine?
Or under the new section 44 procedure to avoid prosecution?

obi604

Lenar3556 wrote: »

The €120 you paid - it that an outstanding court fine?
Or under the new section 44 procedure to avoid prosecution?

the 120 euro was for "exceeding built up area speed limit 50km/h"


EDIT: checked it just now via courts.ie, cannot view it anymore, says : "Our records show that there are no outstanding fines for this case"

Lenar3556

There are two possibilities as to what has occurred;

You were convicted in absence some years ago and this is an outstanding court fine. If this is the case, there is a recorded conviction albeit for a minor motoring offence. You have paid the fine, the penalty points may be dead in the water because of limitations in the process, non production of licence in court and the passage of time.

The other possibility is that the matter has never proceeded because the judge didn’t accept that there had been good service of the summons, and you are now offered a final opportunity to pay a fixed charge, accept five points, but avoid a conviction. This charge is normally €160 for speeding.

Given that the amount you paid was €120, I would be inclined to think that the first scenario is most likely.

You should find out with certainty what the position is.

obi604

Lenar3556 wrote: »

There are two possibilities as to what has occurred;

You were convicted in absence some years ago and this is an outstanding court fine. If this is the case, there is a recorded conviction albeit for a minor motoring offence. You have paid the fine, the penalty points may be dead in the water because of limitations in the process, non production of licence in court and the passage of time.

The other possibility is that the matter has never proceeded because the judge didn’t accept that there had been good service of the summons, and you are now offered a final opportunity to pay a fixed charge, accept five points, but avoid a conviction. This charge is normally €160 for speeding.

Given that the amount you paid was €120, I would be inclined to think that the first scenario is most likely.

You should find out with certainty what the position is.

Thanks for input.


1. As regards points on wifes license, it looks like I have to phone the RSA to check this

2. As regards does she have a motoring conviction, who or where do I check this?
3. As regards warrant for her arrest: who or where do I check the status of this?

Richmond Ultra

obi604 wrote: »

Thanks for input.


1. As regards points on wifes license, it looks like I have to phone the RSA to check this

2. As regards does she have a motoring conviction, who or where do I check this?
3. As regards warrant for her arrest: who or where do I check the status of this?

Check with your local station, they'll tell you if there is a warrant in existence.

Lenar3556

Unlikely that a bench warrant would be issued in a speeding case. More likely to be convicted in absence - if the judge was satisfied that the summons has been served.

The person in the courts office that you were speaking to the other day could answer 2 & 3 for you.

obi604

Deleted User wrote: »

The person in the courts office that you were speaking to the other day could answer 2 & 3 for you.

she didn't seem to know at the time

might try her again, failing this, anyone else I could ask this question to?