# Court Summons for stuff you didn't do?



## khairabar (14 Sep 2010)

What do you do when you get a court summons for some offence that you did not commit?
I have received a bunch of (five) summonses for:
driving without licence, 
driving without insurance, 
not producing licence in 10 days, 
ditto for insurance - all the above untrue - 
plus not producing driving licence on the spot, the only one that is true.

Have I to waste time going to court to answer the first four charges, and is the last one really an offence?

What makes this even stranger is that it relates to an incident where I was stopped, breathalysed, arrested, urine-tested by a "doctor", searched, questioned, and finally released (with the keys of the car) to drive home, and the summonses received appear to relate to comparatively minor matters, in addition to the fact that 4 of the 5 are untrue.  Has anyone else had this experience and is it a preamble to a drink driving summons or is it a mix-up?  The incident was in late April, (ie) about 5 months back.


----------



## j26 (14 Sep 2010)

If you don't go to court to defend yourself you WILL be convicted, so yes, it's worth your while going to court.

You might want to try to contact the garda officer in question to see if any misunderstandings can be sorted out.


----------



## dahamsta (14 Sep 2010)

Whatever about the rest of it, yes, the last one is a (new) offense. You must have your driving licence with you now if you're driving.


----------



## Mpsox (14 Sep 2010)

Yes you will have to go to court. It will be up to you (or your solicitor) to defend yourself and prove that you were driving with a licence

Therefore, the question is, did you hold a full in date driving licence at the time you were stopped and can you produce that in court?

Secondly, curious as to why you describe the doctor as "doctor", have you some reason to assume he/she wasn't a doctor?


----------



## Betsy Og (14 Sep 2010)

hey buddy, everyone is innocent in here.....

In my own very limited experience you should a) talk to a solicitor, b) talk to the guard to sort the mix up and c) go to court. If you're squeaky clean and the last offence is the only one the judge hears then I cant see him going hard on you.

My walk of shame was re "offensive and abusive words to a garda" or something like that (15 years ago, college drunkenness incident), which in fairness was OTT, I'd have signed up for drunk and disorderly but yer man took a distinct dislike to me. Apologies at the station etc were no good to him.

So I went to court, no solicitor, case never came up, clerk told me I was home free. Sobering experience if you'll pardon the pun. Bar a couple of speeding fines/penalty points I've been a good boy since....


----------



## Sunny (14 Sep 2010)

Very easy to prove you had insurance and a licence so just talk to the Guard if you can. He might have got the paperwork mixed up. 

Betsy Og, always knew there was something real dodgy about you!


----------



## Yorrick (14 Sep 2010)

If you have the paperwork correct don't waste money on a Solicitor yet. Get in contact with the Guard. If no satisfaction there photocopy everything and post to the Superintendent. He/she will act on it.
However if not resolved by the court date be sure to go to court, with your documents.

If you are confident you could deal with this yourself in court without the expense of a solicitor.

driving without licence, 
driving without insurance, 
not producing licence in 10 days, 
ditto for insurance - all the above untrue - 
Were you asked to produce the documents and failed to do so ?
If so  the Garda will presume that you have not got them and summons you.

I would get in contact with the Garda as soon as possible


----------



## khairabar (14 Sep 2010)

thanks all.
just to clarify, yes the garda asked for the License and insurance, which i did not have on the spot, and produced later that day at the station i nominated, both docs clean and in date. The summons suggest i didn't produce them, which suggests their system may be at fault (?)

Reason i am reluctant to contact the garda is in case he sent out this stuff by mistake, and now if i remind him he might send out a drink driving one, which maybe he forgot about (?) Could they really be this inefficient? 

The other thing is i am due to be on hols in England on the court date - what to do then?

(why i put the "doctor" in parentheses is because this was a man taxied in to the station at the State's expense to watch me pee into a bottle and put a seal on it, instead of saving someone's life in a hospital)


----------



## ney001 (14 Sep 2010)

khairabar said:


> Reason i am reluctant to contact the garda is in case he sent out this stuff by mistake, and now if i remind him he might send out a drink driving one, which maybe he forgot about (?) Could they really be this inefficient?



So did you drink and drive? If not why worry about it? Surely the 'doctor' who showed up should be able to clear you, he did take urine didn't he? 




khairabar said:


> (why i put the "doctor" in parentheses is because this was a man taxied in to the station at the State's expense to watch me pee into a bottle and put a seal on it, instead of saving someone's life in a hospital)



What has this got to do with anything?   A doctor has to be present at tests like these so what's the problem?


----------



## Betsy Og (14 Sep 2010)

Sunny said:


> Betsy Og, always knew there was something real dodgy about you!


 
Eh??, I'm cushty, kosher, I've even sold a few a 2nd hand cars, would you not buy one from me??......


----------



## DB74 (14 Sep 2010)

khairabar said:


> (why i put the "doctor" in parentheses is because this was a man taxied in to the station at the State's expense to watch me pee into a bottle and put a seal on it, instead of saving someone's life in a hospital)


 
You mean like somebody who got hit by a drunk-driver?


----------



## csirl (14 Sep 2010)

If you have all the documentation, its more than likely that you're ok with most of your list. However, you probably will be convicted of failure to have your license with you while driving and get a small fine.

By all means get the documentation together and talk to the Garda. But, as you'll almost certainly have to go to court anyway on the failure to have your license summons, I'd bring all the paperwork to court on the day just in case. It may also be that as the other summonses are already in the system - the Courts issue them, not the Gardai - that there is nothing that can be done without an appearance.


----------



## Billo (14 Sep 2010)

khairabar said:


> thanks all.
> just to clarify, yes the garda asked for the License and insurance, which i did not have on the spot, and produced later that day at the station i nominated, both docs clean and in date. The summons suggest i didn't produce them, which suggests their system may be at fault (?)



Driving without insurance is a very serious offense.
Or were you driving without your licence only ?


----------



## jhegarty (14 Sep 2010)

Billo said:


> Driving without insurance is a very serious offense.
> Or were you driving without your licence only ?



The op had insurance , just not the cert

There is no requirement to have the cert with you.


----------



## Billo (14 Sep 2010)

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/c.../motoring-1/driving-offences/driving_offences

Motor tax and insurance 

Motorists in Ireland are obliged to display evidence that they have paid their motor tax and have current motor insurance on the windscreen of their vehicles.


----------



## Padraigb (14 Sep 2010)

Billo said:


> http://www.citizensinformation.ie/c.../motoring-1/driving-offences/driving_offences... Motorists in Ireland are obliged to display evidence that they have paid their motor tax and have current motor insurance on the windscreen of their vehicles.



While true, it does not seem relevant to this situation. A Garda is entitled to demand proof that there is valid insurance covering the individual who is actually driving the vehicle. The certificate is the proof of that. There is no obligation to have the certificate with the vehicle, but it must be produced within 10 days if it is demanded.


----------



## dahamsta (14 Sep 2010)

Billo said:


> http://www.citizensinformation.ie/c.../motoring-1/driving-offences/driving_offencesMotorists in Ireland are obliged to display evidence that they have paid their motor tax and have current motor insurance on the windscreen of their vehicles.


The insurance cert has to be displayed, however since the insurance cert has very little data of value on it, a Garda can also request an insurance cert. You're NOT required to have your insurance cert with you.

Facts are great.


----------



## khairabar (14 Sep 2010)

Billo said:


> Driving without insurance is a very serious offense.


just to clarify again, nobody was driving without insurance! Or without a licence. Insurance disc was displayed on windscreen, and both licence & insurance produced at a garda station later in the day. In spite of this, I have still got 5 summonses to defend in court. Methinks the "doctor" should have busied himself with the garda instead of me...


----------



## twofor1 (15 Sep 2010)

I had to produce my insurance certificate last year. On doing so I was issued with a receipt which had my name, address, car reg, who requested it, where, when and to who I produced it, and was stamped and signed in the Garda station.

It had sections for driving licence, insurance and certificate of roadworthiness, the relevant insurance box was ticked in my case and this section had my policy number, start and end date etc.

Is this not the norm now?


----------



## Mpsox (15 Sep 2010)

khairabar said:


> Methinks the "doctor" should have busied himself with the garda instead of me...


 
methinks the "doctor" wouldn't have had to busy himself with you if you hadn't got behind the wheel of a car after having had a drink.


----------



## ney001 (15 Sep 2010)

Mpsox said:


> methinks the "doctor" wouldn't have had to busy himself with you if you hadn't got behind the wheel of a car after having had a drink.



+1 - OP is being very ambiguous about whether or not he had been drinking.   Get over the fact that a doctor was there seriously.........


----------



## gianni (15 Sep 2010)

khairabar said:


> Methinks the "doctor" should have busied himself with the garda instead of me...


----------



## Allen (16 Sep 2010)

It sounds like they have no record that you 





> produced later that day at the station i nominated


your licence and insurance.  If you have proof that you did, then only the last charge is valid which is very minor.


----------

