This Case Took Place at North & West Cumbria Magistrates Court
To keep our client’s identity confidential, they will be referred to as ‘’Jasper’’ for this case study.
Japer came to us after being disqualified from driving. Japer explained that he sold his vehicle a year earlier to a third party, through a social network. The third party had since committed two speeding offences and a failure to furnish information charge, which had accumulated over 12 penalty points. These offences took place in Cumbria and occurred after Jasper’s vehicle had been sold. Jasper was completely unaware of these offences until he received a Notice Of Driving Disqualification.
Jasper had been assured by the third party that he would bring the relevant documents up to date, and inform the DVLA of the change of ownership. As this was the first time Jasper has sold a car through social media to a third party, he was unaware of the dangers posed by not following this procedure correctly.
To begin we needed to have Jasper’s case remitted to a court closer to his home. Jasper’s case was due to be heard in Cumbria Magistrates and he currently resided in Central London (a six hour drive). It’s important to apply to the court for a remittance as soon as possible as this process can be timely. In this instance the court failed to make a decision in respect of Jasper remittance and we were forced to prepare for his hearing to take place at Cumbria.
Jasper was very concerned about being disqualified from driving as he needed his licence in order to retain his employment, which he had held for a number of years. As Jasper lived alone and was completely financially independent, the loss of his licence would also place him into a state of financial disrepair and impact his ability to afford basic essential such as food and rent.
Understandably Jasper wished to proceed with a NOT GUILTY plea, so we prepared for his trial accordingly. In order to substantiate Jaspers NOT GUILTY plea, we needed to demonstrate the date in which the sale had taken place. Jasper provided us with screenshots of the conversation with the third party, outlining the sale and exchange of the vehicle. We also obtained Japers work timetable, which demonstrated that he was working in London at the time the offences took place and therefore could not have committed them.
Upon attending court Jasper was informed that his case was being dismissed on the grounds that the prosecution’s case could not be substantiated, due to police officers involved not attending court. Jasper was also granted a Defendant Cost Order, which would enable him to claim back a percentage of his legal costs.
This case is a good example of how quickly you can be at risk of disqualification when the correct procedure is not followed when you sell/purchase a vehicle. Jasper was fortunate in this case, but this outcome is never guaranteed. If you find yourself in the same position as Jasper, please call one of our motoring experts on 0330 912 2124.