producing documents to the gardai please help

Hi, I understand the worry.. my friend was in a similiar situation about 2 years ago. He was given an old fairly broken car by a family member and was caught driving it. He had no tax or insurance either.. He messed up no doubt but he signed the car over to the guards as he couldnt afford to fix it up. He'd never been in any trouble before and when the summons came its scary.. but its not the end of the world. He got a solicitor and had his day in court. the episode gave him a scare (which he kinda deserved) and He got a fine of €250.
Its very unlikely you'll be banned from driving on first offence, i'd say a fine is much more in keeping. You have to keep in mind boy racers arent even banned when caught drifting on roundabouts!
But get a solicitor, try to explain the circumstances, show that you've fixed the documents and more importantly you've learned your lesson. It'll be ok. Good Luck.

Hi all a quick update well not an update really as I've heard nothing at all. Just wondering how many months it takes for a sumons to be issued? I would rather know one way or another.

macnas said:

Most judges have been solicitors in their time. They would like to encourage people to use solicitors to plead their case . So if you have a solicitor representing you in court the judge takes a more lenient view of the case and the fine, if imposed, will be reduced if a solicitor had been used. Any truth in this?

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I haven't found this to be the case in RTA's [Road Traffic Act offences], but proper legal representation is useful in any Court and usually only harms your wallet.

Its far more important that you go to court yourself, assess how the judge is feeling that day and the kind of sentences he is handing down.
I was once represented on a speeding ticket by a Wicklow Solicitor's office whose practice was "twinned" with one in Dublin.
On the day my solicitor was unavoidably detained.
The solicitor not turning up meant his "second" from the Dublin office asked for an adjournment as she wasn't properly briefed - this apparently was normal enough practice.

However by then I had been in Court for an hour listening to the RTA cases and the Judge was in a good mood, fines instead of endorsement and the like
The Garda was there, I was there and here was my solicitors "second" asking for an adjournment and annoying the judge.
The offence meant I could have gotten an endorsement on a "bad" day.

So after the solicitor had asked for an adjournment I stopped the Garda, who was leaving the Court, explained who I was and asked him to stay.
He agreed, and then I went up to the "second" solicitor and instructed her to proceed with the case, stating my reasons, and she agreed to accept my instruction.
It was a clear cut case, with no pleading on my part, and a judge in a good mood was the most important criterion for minimising the penalty.
The case was brought up again, the judge seemed happy to see I hadn't wasted Garda time or the Court's time and I received an IR£60 fine [it was a while ago ] and no endorsement on my licence.

I think the OP's storey is believable enough for her to be put on the stand to explain the position, but not to deny liability, just to state the case well and simply, apologise for her actions and show evidence of her contrition by producing all the documents.

Then all you can do is hope for a sympathetic hearing from the judge.
Be prepared for some serious points on the license though.

FWIW

ONQ

mollee said:

Hi all a quick update well not an update really as I've heard nothing at all. Just wondering how many months it takes for a sumons to be issued? I would rather know one way or another.

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Sometimes these things take so long it looks like they've forgotten about it and you get your hopes up and then... the little brown envelope comes flitting through the letterbox.

Which reminds me, I'm due one myself - replying to this thread will probably crystallize it and it'll appear in tomorrow's mail.

<sheesh!>

So don't worry, you're in good company in the RTA section.

ONQ

Thanks

Hi Mollee... it can take months to be served with summons/documents. My friend was stopped in March, he signed over the car and all then and thought it all went away and then was served with the summons the following October.