Thread: Court...

Anyone got any experience of going to the justice of the peace court(district court)?

I have a trial starting in mid-August

I have a great deal of experience in courts of all sorts although primarily Mags and Crown. Whats the problem?

An accident in a supermarket car park, knocked the wing mirror off a car and parked in another space. Getting done with 2 offences, driving away from the scene and failure to report. Been told if i pleaded guilty i would have got 8 penalty points and a fine, because i've only been driving since Nov 08 it means i would be disqualified from driving. Lawyer has said to plead not guilty to both offences, been to my intermediate and they gave me a trial date. Don't really know what to expect tbh, I've never been in trouble in my whole life so this feels a bit outwith my comfy zone :laugh:

Someone reported me,thats the only witness they have as far as im aware, me and my girlfriend were in the car at the time. It's cost a bomb so far and the trial aint even started! (lawyer fees).

8pts seems pretty excessive for a minor fail to stop/report.

In my experience theres not many ways to defend against this kind of offence short of saying that you were completely unaware of the collision. I would never advocate lying and if youve already told your solicitor that you were aware the collision took place then he absolutley shouldnt be advising you to do so.

If you were aware that the collision took place then its pretty hard to justify why you didnt at least try to contact the owner of the vehicle or leave your details and why you didnt report the matter to the Police at least.

What I would say is that if you were aware of the collision and you did stop and at least look for the driver then you should mention that even if you subsequently failed to report the matter because thats half of the offence sorted (the offence is failing to stop and report - 'driving away from the scene' is failing to stop). They will be judging whether you made 'reasonable' efforts to locate the owner of the other vehicle so only you know whether you did.

Be aware that if you did do it and you admit so at the first opportunity you are eligible for upto one third off whatever punishment they would give you. Go not guilty and that entitlement falls to no more than one tenth for a later guilty plea.

Telling the truth is always a good idea in my opinion but youve hired a solicitor so I suppose you should run everything by him first.

Yes mate it was a very stupid thing to do, I wasn't aware of any colision to be honest, if i knew that the damage was as serious as there making out to be then i would have stopped. It was a very very stupid thing of me to do (not properly check). The only thing was there was no scratches or marks on my car, thats why i didn't think the damage was so serious.

Well if you genuinely werent aware that a collision had occurred then you cant really go guilty to the offence because you have to know that a collision has occurred before you can be expected to stop at it or report it.

Ensure that is definately the case though because if you stopped to look at your own vehicle, noticed that there was no damage to it and then assumed that there must then be no damage to the other vehicle then you committ the offence. You also have to be aware that there may be eye witnesses or cctv.

Again, I defer to telling the truth. If you genuinely didnt know it had happened then how can you be expected to say you did? Likewise if you did know about it then its probably best to cough that at the earliest opportunity, put forward whatever mitigation you may have and ask your solicitor to plead for leniency based on your good character, lack of previous and/or genuine belief.

I checked my car for scratches once the police had turned about at my house about and were questioning me about it. We will just have to wait and see what happens i suppose, I think i'm just thinking too much/worrying about it lol.

HI bud, I am in agreement. If you plead guilty at the first opportunity the courts always treat that in a good way. 8 points for the offence is probably the maximum that the courts can give you. For example burglars can get upto 14years they normally get far far less than that if anything..But take my point. Admit it, be honest and say you hadn't realised it, if you had of course you would have stopped. Get your laywer, if you decide to keep them, to argue that any more than 6 points would cost you loss of licence, potentially your job and effect your family life. Don't forget you can represent yourself and on the day the Clerk of the court will help you. Don't be intimidated by the magistrates or any of the other folk that work in the courts. Dress smart, speak well and clearly and hold yourself upright and look people in the eye. If you get asked questions look at the magistrates in the eye when you answer those questions.
Anything else just ask

ull be reight mate no worries!

just take it as it comes.. good luck tho...