pending court case re: accused of driving while talking on a phone

MrMan said:
The guard wasn't out of line if he believes what he thinks he saw, it is credible for him to have thought to have seen a man holding a phone to his ear because how many of us simply drive whilst resting our head in our hands?
Click to expand...
It depends on the circumstances. Was he driving at speed, or crawling in heavy traffic. You'll see it quite routinely where people are stopped in heavy traffic on the M50. I'll happily admit to doing it myself. The car's going nowhere, the handbrake is on, and I'm leaning my head on my hand. It hardly qualifies as dangerous driving.
 
(O and merely having a mobile in your hand whilst driving is not to my knowledge an offence)[/quote]

McCrack
Re your post of 18/11 as per extract above, may I as politely as possible point out to you that the precise offence is "holding" a mobile phone and not 'using' for verification of which one should consult the text of Sec 3 Road Traffic Act 2006.
 
Hi Steve
Just been through a similar case and was lucky to be aquitted. Basically it was down to the word of the Garda against my word, and (my trump card, as the judge said) my partners.

As has been pointed out, the offence is holding a phone so all phone records are "irrelevant", though they did in my case show that I infrequently used the phone, which was noted.

I did have a solicitor, and he made sure that both of us got to give evidence. I tended to elaborate on what had occoured on the day (things like, the phone was stuck in my pocket and I didnt realise I had it, etc) and the judge mentioned that this made it seem like I had something to hide.

Basically just say, and repeat, "I was not holding a phone" and answer any questions asked. It is then up to the judge to decide who is telling the truth.

One thing that helped my case is that the Garda stated, in his evidence, that he only observed me as I passed him, in other words, only momenteraly, as opposed to seeing me as I approached. This is where the solicitor will be usefull in picking up on these details.

The alternative, which some people used successfully (Im not claiming that it was not true), is to swear that you never received the origional Notification of the Offence, due to some addressing fault.

Finally, it did cost a days holiday for myself and my partner plus a bill from the solicitor that was far more than any fine or insurance loading. However I am happy to say I still have a points free license (for now).

Good luck
 
steve1234 said:
Looks like this is going to cost more than I thought but worth it in the end.
Click to expand...

Judgement Day ( in my opinion )

Garda will stand up and say that he witnessed defendent holding a mobile phone while driving.

Defendent will say this is untrue

Judge will say : Defendent is guilty
 
allthedoyles said:
Judgement Day ( in my opinion )

Garda will stand up and say that he witnessed defendent holding a mobile phone while driving.

Defendent will say this is untrue

Judge will say : Defendent is guilty
Click to expand...

Sorry, Allthedoyles....can't agree with that. That'sthe way it will be told anecdotally away from the Court, etc but it will not be dealt with in that way on the day.

No point in regurgitating what's been laid out in very significant detail in this and other threads dealing with this topic but there is a lot to learn by just spending a little time in rereading what has already been posted here from a number of useful sources.
 
ah sorry this is my thread - i thought it got deleted but it just got moved to a different section. Anyways i had my day in court but the guard didnt show up. he was off down the country. So the case is rescheduled now for march. So im down two days pay now so im starting to agree with mr man - i should have paid it and just forgot about it - either way im the looser. Just to be clear on one point though - i wasent using the phone at all - i.e. - no phone in my hand, resting on my leg etc..
 
Seems a bit mean to make you go again. If you weren't available would the court be so accomadating?
 
No probably not -i was thinking that it should have been thrown out. Think it was my solicitor who was a bit slow off the mark. he had too many cases to deal with in the day. I waited around all day and when it was called it was and postponed before i even stood up. Very disorganised court room also - i wouldnt like to be there for anything serious - sounded more like an AGM of a football club.
 
May I ask how long it takes for the notice to come? My OH was stop for using his mobile phone (Guilty) in early June but he hasn't received any notice for payment yet. Would it normally be 7 weeks or longer? The guard checked his address with him when he show his licence so there shouldn't be a problem there with address.
 
steve1234 said:
Anyways i had my day in court but the guard didnt show up. he was off down the country. So the case is rescheduled now for march. So im down two days pay now so im starting to agree with mr man - i should have paid it....
Click to expand...

Yes, this case should have been struck out... you should have defended yourself and requested that the case be struck out as the State had no case to present... your solicitor let you down very badly here... will you now have to pay your solicitor twice.. this is a disgrace.

If you hadn't shown up you would have been convicted in your absence.

Did your solicitor even ask for the case to be struck out?, if not I would report him to the Law Society or whoever for imcompetence and not putting your best case forward and request that he waive any fees or charges relating to your second court appearance.

If a request had been made for this case to be thrown out I believe it would have been sucessful.. unless the Guard had a representative or agent in the court speaking on his behalf and giving a very good reason as to why he wasn't there... the judge would often take your side on this, the judge knows he would have convicted you in your absence so it should be a two way street. Your solicitor is to blame, (if he didn't request a strike out)
 
I'm aware this is a zombie thread, but

I've seen a case very similar where the defendant showed up with his phone records, and showed he didn't make/try to make/dial any calls nor receive any for over 30mins either side of the guard stopping him; no text, nothing. Even had his complete dialled number list for the state to go to Vodafone and disporve.

Judge asked the State why they thought a person would be holding a phone up to their ear if there was proof no call was going on; state agreed there wasn't a reason, but wouldn't agree that the guard didn't see what he said (to be fair they probably couldn't)

case struck out. took 2 mins tops.
 


guard should have checked your phone when you were stopped
 
What records did he get to show that he didn't receive a call? This wouldn't appear on his bill.
 
It came down to my word against the guard so the guard won as he's apparently trained at spotting people driving while holding mobile phones.
it took 3 times for the case to be heard (overcrowed courts and the guard didnt show up for one of them) so i lost 3 days work and got a 500 euro fine.
i was going to appeal it (as i wasnt holding the phone) but i couldnt afford to take any more days off work.

my advice if your in the same situation. Just pay the fine even if your innocent and put it down to bad luck.

All the best
steve
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register