Lets face it you are going to get at least 6 points and a fine from the local beak who may be a bike hater and worst case you get a ban. Plus a day sat in court with all the local likely lads. Stuck between a Rock and hard and potentially harder place Id be tempted to exercise your right to remain silent.
True but my suggestion does neither - all it does is "test the system" theres nothing wrong in doing what I suggested, I thought it would be worth a try doing. Both the things I suggested will not get you a ban, fine or even a point on your licence....see how far you get....that kind of thing....a neutral way of testing the water....
If you do decide to remain silent I would not send anything back at all.. Just ignore as its not unheard of cases just to disappear
Worked for a colleague of mine, he just binned everything as it dropped through his letterbox and eventually they stopped coming. Note; I am not offering this as legal advice
You have the right to remain silent if you are being arrested by the police, or questioned. If you as the registered keeper of a vehicle are asked officially in writing who was driving it at a particular time, you do not have a right to refuse to respond. If you refuse you respond, or respond falsely, you might get away with it - or you might get deeper in trouble. It's a question of taking a risk. A false response can be interpreted as attempting to pervert the course of justice, and lead to a prison sentence. Odd isn't it. If you actually perverted the course of justice, that means you succeeded in getting away with it; if you attempted to pervert the course of justice, that means you were caught and punished.
He may hear no more about it. On the other hand the records must still exist, and the next time he is stopped by the police this matter may be resurrected and they may throw the book at him.
Back in my much younger days I thought points meant prizes and got done for speeding more times than I can remember. I tried every loophole/trick/rumour to no avail. Firstly, you have to tell them who was riding, otherwise as the letter says, you will get points & a fine anyway, plus then they will assume you are the rider and do you for that separately. With regards to court - basically if they think there is a chance that you will get banned - either through "totting up" or through the speed you were doing then they will take you straight to the magistrates court. Having been to magistrates court for speeding quite a few times I can say from personal experience that the outcome is entirely down to how the magistrate is feeling. Magistrates have no legal training or qualifications. They are normally old retired people who tend to hate speeders and anyone younger than they are in general. They just act on what they "feel" following listening to the evidence and advice from the Clerk (who is legally qualified). Once I was flashed by a camera doing 72 in a 60mph area (so only a fraction over their "allowed amount"), on a very quiet back road in the middle of nowhere. The camera markings were on a bend, not in accordance to the ACPO guidelines. The photo of the "speeding" bike actually showed it had travelled less markings than the camera officer had counted. And numerous requests from me for the calibration certificate had resulted in nothing forthcoming from the police. So I felt I had a good case to dispute things in court. The police waited 11 months, right until the morning of the court case to send me the calibration certificate and in court the police "expert" blinded the 150 year old magistrate with figures and facts, resulting in the magistrate deciding I was guilty pretty much straight away and the police`s camera evidence could not be disputed. They awarded me 10 (ten) points and a massive fine (for 72 in a 60, which is normally just a 3 points & £60). The Clerk then pointed out this was a bit excessive and so they dropped it to 6 points and a large fine. So, still twice what you would normally get for that speed.
I got a 2 week ban from mid December to 1st Jan for doing 80mph in a 40 and averaging 98mph over 1 3/4mls in a 60 on a twisty A road, they took a while to catch me . Worked out OK as the factory I worked in shut down for 2 weeks over Christmas and I got to go on the beer for 2 weeks solid and couldn't take my turn in driving.
This was about 15 years ago but I seem to remember it went up a bit but not horrendous. I didn't even get any points. PS, did have a lawyer turn up with me.
Bad luck and I really feel for you. I was NIP'ed doing 102 on M180 about 10 years ago in my scooby. I didn't tell my SO about it and was pretty depressed for months. The CPS sent me the papers on the very last day of the statute limitation for prosecution and my court date was close to a year after the offence happened. By this time I had spent probably 6 months without sleeping properly and depressed about loosing my job and everything to go with it. On the day of the court appearance I arrived in Scunthorpe to be told my solicitor wouldn't be turning up and a locum would represent me. Some 20 something snivel of a solicitor arrived from a local solicitor 15 minutes before my court appearance without any prep and started reading emails from my solicitor about the case. The mags tore strips of me and I just had to stand and say nothing. Pretty embarrassing. I got to keep my licence but was offered 6 points and a fine of £1600 plus court fees of £275 The solicitor added insult to the injury and billed me another £700 for the legal representation. Insurance trebled on the scooby to £2300 so had to sell it. If I had my time again I would have saved myself the £700 and not bothered with the solicitor.
If the Magistrates Court does something totally unreasonable and outside the guidelines, it is possible to appeal to the Crown Court. The bench would consist of a Circuit Judge plus two magistrates (and they pick some of the more sensible magistrates for this duty). I wouldn't recommend this unless you have really strong grounds of appeal.
Years ago the sun newspaper ran an article called roll of shame, or something like that , it was about the fastest caught speeders .I , unfortunately , was equal 3rd . Fastest ever in Scotland , at the time , and only escaped prison after the proculator fiscal , prosecutor , took pity on me and interupted the , Sherif , judge . I can even remember his words . "My lord in mr ws defence it was a bright sunny day and he was going to a race meeting in fife. I think the enthusiasm of the day overcame his normal common sense." Still got a 4 month suspended sentence £1500 and a years ban . Sherifs last words were pay within two months or go down for four. Bastard .That was back in 97 , so , I would advise you to get the best solicitor you can afford . Dont think many get away without a ban over 100 mph .
At the time you suck it up and take it on the chin. I wouldn't have a clue what the guidelines where, my so called solicitor just told me to accept what was coming.
In all fairness you didnt do too badly. 6 points for 102 in a 70 compared to my 6 points for 72 in a 60. But like you say, appealing is the last thing on your mind, you just suck it up and carry on with life.
Its a shit really isn't it.....whatever you've done, you've done, paying someone to represent you to confirm what you've done shouldnt change the severity of whats dished out...
6points 160 fine 30+years ago no lawyer. pushing a scrambler along the road. several years later gave a mate a shot of my bike, crashed it put him self in hospital for a month no insurance or license (for him) 6points £60 fine with lawyer.
Here's a link to the Sentencing Council's published guidelines for Magistrates' Court offences (look up the "Speeding" section): http://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/publications/item/magistrates-court-sentencing-guidelines/ If you are ever summonsed to court for any offence, you really ought to familiarise yourself with the relevant guidelines before you go. Otherwise you would have no idea whether the Mags are doing their job properly or not. Also if you have studied the aggravating and mitigating factors relevant to your offence, you will know which ones might apply to you and which you can emphasise in your favour or otherwise. Incidentally my old job used to include writing the sentencing guidelines for the Court Martial, so I'm reasonably familiar with this stuff.
