Traffic Fine, address incorrect

  • Thread starter happycamper
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happycamper

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Hi All,

I have recently been contacted by the Gardai, one intimidating character particularly.

They say I was issued a fine for being in a bus lane and not having my licence on me at the time which was ignored.

I was supposedly also summons to court and did not attend but they told me that they had the wrong address in the system for me so in fact would have known nothing about this.

I now have a max fine from back in 2007 and have been told by this person there is really no point in appealing as its time consuming and expensive and sure 'just pay it' also told that he would call me when he wanted half of it dropped in and the rest the following month.

At the time I was stopped the Gardai asked for my licence which I had left at home. The only thing he said to me was 'present it at your local Garda station' which I did the next day. I received nothing and thought my self very lucky and a lesson learnt.

Firstly, how can they expect me to pay this max fine when I never got it. I would pay the bus lane fine no problem but not 300. In fact its even more annoying that this person is clearly using intimidation techniques. I might also add that I asked for something in writing, or official document (fine or other) but was given nothing.

Is this not very strange and very wrong?

A very stressed and worried girl.

UNhappy camper!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yes, of course it's a serious problem.

Aren't the Police supposed to serve summonses on you in person?, This is to prevent the problems you've encountered...

The Guard appears to be trying to 'strong arm' you and to intimidate you into paying.. this is most likely because he or his collegues are at fault, because they failed so badly in serving you notice of your court case. If you were never informed of the summons how can that be held against you?, well it cannot...


So you need to get the paperwork from the Garda that shows what happened to you.. if they were sent to the wrong address you need the Guards or the District Court to re-issue the documents..

Then you need to get a case listed in the same district court.. to appeal the original decision as you were not told about the court case. You will likely be out of time for an appeal... but this is as quickly as you could appeal as you have only found out. So you may have to apply from the judge for permission to lodge a late appeal. Once you have your court date you should ask the judge to set aside any previous rulings as you were not informed.. then you should ask that a new court date NOT be set as so much time has passed it has an effect on your ability to defend yourself.

Your case is clear.. you were not summonesed to court.. no Garda can stand up and say they hand delivered the summons to you.. so what happened? It may have been posted to the wrong address, this should have been registered.. so who signed for it?

I wouldn't be too stressed if I was you.. be brave, if you feel intimidated then politely say that you are taking the Guards number.. and you will deal with his superintendant at the station as the current Guard is aggressive, intimidating and is frightening you.. if he persists you will lodge a complaint. Some guards are bullies... you need to be polite but firm.

Cheers
Joe
 
JoeBallantin said:
Your case is clear.. you were not summonesed to court.. no Garda can stand up and say they hand delivered the summons to you.. so what happened? It may have been posted to the wrong address, this should have been registered.. so who signed for it?
Click to expand...

Just to add my experience to this. I was summonsed once (hangs head in shame) and the letter was sent by registered post. In fact, I was away when the letter was first sent so it was returned to the sender by An Post to the sender and was posted back out a few days later.
 
JoeBallantin said:
.. be brave, if you feel intimidated then politely say that you are taking the Guards number.. and you will deal with his superintendant at the station as the current Guard is aggressive, intimidating and is frightening you.. if he persists you will lodge a complaint. Some guards are bullies... you need to be polite but firm.
Click to expand...

Yes, this happened me once. I was very drunk once and two Guards heavily suggested I go with them to Store Street station which I did whereupon they threw me into a cell for a few hours. (I wouldn't really mind but I lived within walking distance of the Station at the time and was very close to home)

Upon releasing me, I said I was going to make a complaint - they said, now we have to arrest you. I asked why - they said they needed to protect themselves. They added that being drunk is an offence as will be evidenced by the Stations CCTV but they'd add 'disorderly' to my charge as well.

I let it go. I'm still fuming - 8 years later ! :(
 
and if you'd fallen drunk into the liffey your family may well have sued the garda that spoke to you to ascertain how inebriated you were and took you into custody to protect you....
 
Can I ask do you know what address the summons was sent to if you know. Was it the address on your driving license or an address you gave when stopped or the address the car was registered to? Did all the addresses correspond? You are obliged to keep your address on this up to date and this might be where the problem arose.
I'd dig deeper in relation to getting details about the court date and fine - even if it means either writing to the court service or local superintendent and work from there.
Good luck.
 
dereko1969 said:
and if you'd fallen drunk into the liffey your family may well have sued the garda that spoke to you to ascertain how inebriated you were and took you into custody to protect you....
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Ok, I won't enter into a tig-for-tag thing here and this is probably the wrong forum for this, but from a legal viewpoint I fail to see how such a lawsuit would stand any chance of winning, nor indeed have I ever heard of one.

At the time I looked inot a complaint but saw that the Guards investigate the complaints tjhemselves - perhaps this explained the .3% success rate of all complaints. Indeed I note now how they no longer investigate complaints made against themselves. The vast majority are hard-working and honest and do put up with a helluva amount of BS (incl. people who are too drunk i..e me in this case) but you have a small minority who abuse the great powers that they have.
 
niceoneted said:
You are obliged to keep your address on this up to date and this might be where the problem arose.
Click to expand...

Think this is the ultimate point. If the address was incorrect because your details weren't up-to-date, you wouldn't have much grounds to appeal.
 
Indeed. They are offences of not having the correct details recorded on your licence. It is amazing so many people are too lazy to update their licence details when they move.
 
o.p.,

Sounds like the guard has a couple of penal warrants which are issued when a defendant fails to pay a court fine. If this is the case, just be aware that you could be lodged in prison if you don't pay the fine. The guard probably wants you to pay one warrant first and the other one next month. The guard dealing with the matter now is only executing a warrant he has been given to execute. I can't comment on his/her attitude, but warrants are a court order which must be acted upon. Maybe he's trying to keep you out of prison, but needs to work on his delivery!?

Just a quick note concerning the production of your documents "at your local station", the guard would have demanded production at a station of your choice within 10 days.

I'd get in contact with a solicitor asap, but keep in contact with the guard, or his supervisor. If you lodge an appeal, ensure your solicitor wites to the court so they can call back the warrants issued.
 
I would be a little dubious about them asking you to pay "half" the fine this month and the rest next month. I dont think they have any mechanism for accepting part-fines , you would have to pay in full.
Are you sure these guys are kosher?
 
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