Accused of breaking red light by Garda, looking for advice

galway_blow_in said:
Peanuts, I brake all the time on a regular basis while in urban traffic, it's a simple reaction to other driver behaviour, there is a difference between that and jamming the breaks to avert crashing into someone,the latter absolutely did not happen yesterda
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You have no idea what the incident looked like from a person viewing it from outside. As I said previously, you broke a red light (which i think you accept, albeit reluctantly), it is possible that the car with the right of way had to brake, you have no way of proving they didn't. A guard sees you edging out on a red light and a car behind brake lights. What are they supposed to think?. Did other cars behind the first one also have to brake to prevent a fender bender as well. ? Again, you have no idea? If there was brake lights seen, then it indicates that the traffic was moving, albeit slowly, as opposed to someone being nice and letting you out into the traffic before moving on themselves.

An interesting question would be to ask where was the Garda car when this happened, what was their view of the issue? An other interesting question to ask would be what was the position of your car on the road when the other lights turned green

I do get Galway is a painful city to drive in, worst then most, don't get me wrong but the core of the issue now is that you were looking for sympathy and you're not getting it. If you want to spend a couple of grand and hire a solicitor and take this to court, do so. That's your perogitive, And if you win, fantastic. But the chances are you won't.
 
Peanuts20 said:
An interesting question would be to ask where was the Garda car when this happened, what was their view of the issue? An other interesting question to ask would be what was the position of your car on the road when the other lights turned green
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You'll have to add those to the backlog of questions already posed and not yet answered in an attempt to clarify what exactly happened here. ;)
 
You could take a chance in court. Could all depend on the judge on the day. Some don't seem to like traffic laws or how the they're enforced. If the judge is familiar with the junction, they could agree with you. You could get lucky and if the guard doesn't show up in court (this seems to annoy some judges), it could be thrown out.
A local solicitor would probably know best, would probably know what opinion a judge would take (and which judge). Accusing the guard of lying or exaggerating may not go well.
You'll need to decide if the cost, time and risk of an increased fine is worth it or if it's easier just to take the hit now.
 
Main concern is were the judge to side with the guard's view ?,how likely would they be to increase the number of penalty points?

It's been known to frequently happen, obviously it's meant to be a detrerant to deter people from challenging these kind of things
 
losttheplot said:
If the judge is familiar with the junction, they could agree with you.
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Agree with what though? It's still not even clear what is claimed to have happened and descriptions to date are patchy, inconsistent and contradictory in place in spite of attempts by the prigs to clarify what happened.
 
please answer the simple questions. If you are going to court, you will need to answer them.

And please, its a brake light and I am having a tea break whilst I wait.

Or don't answer, talk in riddles about whatabouterty , conspiracies , judges, guards and whatnot.

Lets lock the thread.
 
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A slightly different perspective that might assist OP.
Apologies if someone else has covered the point and I am duplicating :oops:

Many RTA type offences may be regarded as "strict liability" offences.
This means that once the relevant facts are proven liability/guilt is deemed to be established.
This then effectively pushes the onus of proving innocence on to the defendant.
If Gardai establish proof, on the evidence, that OP drove through a red light guilt will then be presumed.

Do the prosecution - Gardai in this case - not bear the burden of proof ?
Yes, but the strict liability principle may apply if the evidence supports it.

The standard of proof is that of proving the case against the defendant beyond all reasonable doubt.
The only hope for an acquittal is if the defendant can establish reasonable doubt about the prosecution case.
OP, through their solicitor, should seek preliminary disclosure of the relevant prosecution evidence to decide what to do.

BTW the judge will not be siding with either party but will decide the verdict on the evidence.
 
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