Speeding summons

Hi all,
A quick question that somebody may be able to answer for me.

My boyfriend received a summons for court for not paying a fixed penalty speeding fine. He just completely forgot about it. Only problem is, my boyfriend is out of the country until next month. Is there any chance I can go to court on his behalf?? If so what would I need to do/bring??

Hoping someone can help me here.

Thanks
drakey1

How was the summons served? Did it arrive as registered post and you signed for it?

I'm not sure, I just got a phone call from his mother telling me it was at her house. I'll ring her and ask her how it arrived?? Is this relevant??

Very relevant. His mother needs to contact her son and tell her that she has accepted a summons on his behalf. Based on what you say, she put him in the mess, don't you try and dig him out. Personally, I find it hard to understand how you could forget to settle a speeding fine and then leave the country but be that as it may if you do want to help him then you need to sort out first how the summons was delivered - if it wasn't served properly then he may get off on a technicality and much as I hate that the law is the law, so let me know and we can go from there.

As long as he has a representative in court it's ok. the problem he now faces is a PP increase as non payment is seen as contesting the offence. I think its twice the points. same thing happened me, 1 point offence turned into three. I never went to court personally, sent my solicitor to fight my corner and lost. Would take Orga advice, summons and how it was recieved is very important, good luck

Just spoke to his mother there, the summons was just dropped in the porch, no registered post, no Garda on hand to deliver it. She said it wasn't even left in the letter box, just in the porch.

I'm annoyed when I read this thread. His mother did not get him into this mess as one posted said, his own speeding got him into this mess coupled with his inability to remember to pay a fine.

I am fed up of reading about people trying to find loopholes to get out of speeding fines. Every morning when I drive into Dublin I get almost ran off the road by lunatics driving at 20-40km over the speed limit, passing on solid white lines, not using indicators and loads of other things. I know the OP is only trying to help her BF and that is fair enough and good luck to her on that, but if you do the crime, you should pay the fine

Apologies for the rant, but as I said, this makes me mad

drakey1 - you could now contact your bf and ask him to instruct a solicitor to act for him in this. You should then pass on your info regarding the summons. After that, you've done all that you can.

Mpsox - I fully abhor this breach not just of the law by the person who it seems has accepted his culpability but also of the laissez faire attitude where the fixed charge was not paid. However, I do not condone circumventing due process nor do I accept that an improperly executed summons should be allowed. The judge will ultimately decide on this matter. I simply provided the facts.

Mpsox, I am not trying to find a loophole to get my boyfriend out of trouble, I know he should have paid the fine, I'm not disputing that. I was just asking for advice as to whether I could represent him in court or not, as he is away in a different country for a while.

Orga, thank you for all your help, do I just tell the solicitor that the summons was not sent in the correct way? Do you know an aproximate cost for a solicitor to act on his behalf?

Only answer to those questions can be provided by the solicitor as it depends on your tack/brief - make a phone call to a solicitor will tell you all. Make sure you query if it's an all-in fee or if there is a fee for consultation. After this, it' up to you.