# 5 court summons



## troubled (10 Aug 2009)

Hoping you can help ,im new here so please excuse the amature-ness!

I have recieved 1 court summons for non display of tax, 

when I send an email i found out that I have 4 more coming.  (4 different guards) Got 6 tickets and only paid for 1.  dumb, i know. Car was not taxed since December but i only bought the car in Feb, none the less, is there any way i can avoid court at this stage? I will pay what i should but i live in a small town and the humiliation is killing me! also, will i be named in the local paper? im so ashamed and stupid, why couldn't i just pay and get on with my life, im am now so stressed out over this whole situation.

Can i approach the guards personally and see if there is anythng i can do to now pay the fine?, i know the Super would it be a waste of time  to see if there was anything he could do to help me? or it is just with that courts and that it!

please give me some advise, other than how stupid i was! Thanks


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## j26 (10 Aug 2009)

Do any of the fines relate to the time before you owned the car?  If so, contact the super and tell him.  Show him a copy of the registration cert.


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## troubled (10 Aug 2009)

no, they are end of Feb beginning of March, i was the owner of the car on the 1st of Feb, that would have been easy! 
Would you know if i will loose my licence? points? or just a big fine?


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## Billo (10 Aug 2009)

Was the car registered in your name from the start of February ?


Is the car registered now ? Since when ?


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## troubled (10 Aug 2009)

yes, car was registered to me since 1 feb 09, even tho i didnt get the paperwork until well into february, 1st ticket that was issued to me was 25th Feb, then another 26th and so on, i got 2 to 3 tickets in the post per day until i recieved all six..talk about a bummer.There is tax paid on the car and i also paid the one month arrears, so the car is taxed from feb 09 until feb 10, its non display of tax that i got fines for.


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## elcato (10 Aug 2009)

Go to court and explain the situation to the judge. Tell him you were unaware of the further tickets till they came in the post. You have pqaid the tax after all so they will not throw the book at you. Your name should not appear in the local press.


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## troubled (10 Aug 2009)

thanking you for your responses and please keep them coming, it feels so good just to talk to anyone about this problem, i feel like its the end of the world for me...i know this sounds stupid


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## dewdrop (10 Aug 2009)

Do NOT be worried Troubled. You have not hurt anyone and it wouldbe far more serious if you were driving with no insurance. With regard to Elcato i dont think you can say for certain that it will not appear in the local paper. I read one recently and there were 33 brief reports of varying motoring offences. As i said dont worry please.


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## LS400 (10 Aug 2009)

I do not think I have ever seen some one being "named and shamed" for non payment/display of motor tax!!! if thats all your troubled by, you should relax..


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## Mrs Liamo (10 Aug 2009)

troubled said:


> 1st ticket that was issued to me was 25th Feb, then another 26th



You got one the day after? Thats a bit harse now!


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## Padraigb (10 Aug 2009)

I am taken by the fact that the local Gardai were so active on this type of offence. Did you park the car every day right in front of their station?

I am sure that the average District Justice would see that you were unlucky rather than evil and, particularly as you actually paid the arrears of tax, would roll everything up with no more than a modest fine. It's such a minor offence that I do not think you should worry even if it makes a line in your local paper.


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## hope4711 (11 Aug 2009)

I did a court case for someone for non display of tax - car had failed nct and couldn't get tax until passed - got stopped and summonsed in the intervening period.  Client had paid all the arrears on passing the nct.  On the morning of the case - explained this to the guard and showed them evidence of arrears being paid.  When the case was called the situation was explained to the judge and the guard said she was satisfied the arrears had been paid and the summons was struck out by the judge.

Once you have paid everything and you explain the circumstances to the judge they tend to be reasonable.


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## troubled (11 Aug 2009)

thanks again for all of the advice but i failed to respond to 5 of the "tickets/fines" that were sent to me in the post, this is where i think i will run into problems, not to mention 4 different guards that i will have to track down, just the thoughts of a big court room is daunting enough! Yes Padraigb, its as if the guards were hovering over my car waiting in turn to clobber me with sequential fines, unfortunately i park on the same strret for work every morning, as i said this is a small town, i wonder what they think now when they pass my car everyday!


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## hope4711 (11 Aug 2009)

Don't worry - people forget, mislay fines all the time.  Turn up, say sorry, explain - you may be fined but it's not going to be massive.  Bring evidence you have paid the tax, and evidence of ownership from 1 Feb.


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## Maverick.ie (11 Aug 2009)

God help you. I don't mean to sound trite, but if this is the only thing in your life at the minute that you have to worry about forget about it. If it goes to court and you get a fine you get a fine, its no big deal, it's the national past time of the Gardai these days to issue fines for speeding or no tax, the reason you probably got so many fines is because they passed the information of where your car was parked on to each other. You will more than likely get the probation act.


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## troubled (27 Aug 2009)

Its only me again, I was wondering why i have not recieved any more court summons? i have got one for the second week in september and the rest of them will all be hear that day after enquiring, but why is it that I have not got notification of the 4 other that im waiting endlessly for.  the first was posted to me, will the rest of them be posted to me too . I have been told that you must physically recieve the summons froma guard? is this true? and why was the first one posted to me?

Thanks


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## Claire1956 (27 Aug 2009)

Maverick.ie*Re: 5 court summons*
God help you. I don't mean to sound trite, but if this is the only thing in your life at the minute that you have to worry about forget about it. If it goes to court and you get a fine you get a fine, its no big deal, it's the national past time of the Gardai these days to issue fines for speeding or no tax, the reason you probably got so many fines is because they passed the information of where your car was parked on to each other. *You will more than likely get the probation act. *

Probation........really!! For non-display of tax disc, would that not impact an application for a work visa to US?? Or am I wrong. Would seem very heavy handed.


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## sparkeee (27 Aug 2009)

go to court state your case,dont make any lame excuses,the magistrate has heard it all,be honest and they will be fair with you,ask for all the summonses to be dealt together.


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## DeclanP (27 Aug 2009)

First things first, I presume you have paid the back tax to cover the period when you had tickets placed on your car. Second, make sure all of the cases against you are heard on the same day because if you have paid the back tax, then the State might withdraw a couple of the summonses against you. You might have to adjourn the first case so that they all come in tandem. No, it's unlikely that a case of no tax displayed will be reported in the local press.


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## csirl (28 Aug 2009)

sparkeee said:


> go to court state your case,dont make any lame excuses,the magistrate has heard it all,be honest and they will be fair with you,ask for all the summonses to be dealt together.


 
Make sure you dont call the Judge a magistrate either !


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## Sully1 (29 Aug 2009)

Once you can prove that you back taxed the acr, you'll be fine.

Each of the guards names should be on each of the summonses - just approach each one on teh morning of the court - make sure you have all your paperwork - and they may just strike it out - other than that, explain to the judge that you were waiting on the new regictration cert for your car and once you received it, that you back taxed your car staright away.

It will in all liklihood be struck out - assuming the judge isn't in foul form


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## nuac (29 Aug 2009)

Agree with most of the above advice, especially re magistrates who haven't been in ROI since 1922.  We have District Judges.

Re contacting five gardai on morning of court - this can be difficult.  In most District Courts, especially outside Dublin a Superintendet or Inspector will deal with all the Garda prosecutions.   He or she is the best person to contact.


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## sparkeee (1 Sep 2009)

your judginess,your magistiness your honour,sir,what does one call em?


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## NovaFlare77 (1 Sep 2009)

sparkeee said:


> your judginess,your magistiness your honour,sir,what does one call em?


 
Judge. According to [broken link removed], Your Honour was done away with about 3 years ago, though I'm sure many people still use it out of habit.


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## galway. (1 Sep 2009)

hey troubled , there are several ways to serve a summons namely registered post, by hand to parents , place of work etc. 
however can you clarify where you heard there was four more coming ? if you paid a fine then you received a fine in the post then failed to pay hence court, the other way is the garda can issue a summons , if you have any questions in this area ill be glad to answer. 
you can not loose your licence nor receive points or effect insurance as tax is a revenue based fine. no ancillary, mandatory or consequential orders can be made on your license


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