Please see my "sorry story" below - anyone with any qualified advice I would be most greatful!

Basically, I got lasered on M1 just outside Leeds on a nice sunny Sunday afternoon 28th September.

I was cautioned with a registered speed of 99 mph, although apparently I peaked at 102 mph.

After the official business, the police officer advised me that in Yorkshire the threshold for consideration for a ban is set at 95 mph and that if my licence was important to me I should seek legal advice. Obviously I can't contest the speeding, but that I should claim that a ban would cause hardship especially to my family/dependents as I need to be mobile for my work.

I currently have a clean licence (last SP30 in 1978!) and also have a "blue badge"

I have now finally received the summons from Wakefield Magistrates Court stating the facts and giving me the option of a guilty plea by post, although later it refers to motoring cases and if the court is considering a disqalification, they will not finish it on the same day, but send a me a notice to attend on a later date, when I can give any reasons why I should not be disqalified.

Does anyone have any experience of this and any advice on best way to deal with it?

I have found online Motor Lawyers - Specialist Legal Advice for all Motoring Offences where you can have a 30 min. telephone consultation for £40 + VAT and they will also compile a plea of mitigation for £99 + VAT.

Thanks,

John.

not good but to be honest dont plead gilty by post go and appear before your magistate looks much better and you can show emotion also as a blue badge holder im sure they will not bann you...will speak to a friend this afternoon and pm you back

It all depends on how much you value your licence, what you can afford, and how good you are at bullsh*ting !!!

I assume you want to keep your licence, so you're best option is to plead guilty to the offence and then plead "special reasons not to disqualify". This is where the financial or bullsh*t options come in to play. If you feel confident in researching the reasons yourself, and would then feel confident standing up in front of 3 magistrates (who honestly don't live in the real world !! ), and trying to convince them, then go for it, but trust me, magistrates are a fickle bunch, and one week they will let you off, and the next they will hang you out to dry, so if you don't feel confident in doing this, then I would suggest you contact solicitors firm in Wakefield (who will be familiar with the court and more than likely the magistrates), and fork out for them to try and save your skin !!!

If it does go pear-shaped though, the train station is only 2 minutes WALK from the magistrates court :D.

Edited 12 January, 200917 yr by phillip

Do not waste money on a solicitor Plead Guilty, sort out your mitigation and rehearse before you go, A few tear,s will help, YOU MUST SHOW REMORSE FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE. The bench will listen to you more closely ,when the solicitor speak,s they will have it heard it all before . You are entitled to see the prosecution papers before the trial . I have defended my self twice and both time,s had excellent result , Your previous is very good and hopefully you can escape a ban, Good luck

Cba

Edited 12 January, 200917 yr by cheezemonkhai

Would not have the the same confidence in the legal profession as C-M ,they are not going to bust a gut defending a guilty speeder , a barrister for a speeding offence, at what cost, when you defend your self you are entitled to see a duty solicitor at the court who will advise ,I defended myself against a charge which could have resulted in a custodial sentence , I was given absolute discharge and the crown had to pay all the cost,s ,there fore I can speak with some authority on the merits,s of conducting your own defence

Cba

Edited 12 January, 200917 yr by cheezemonkhai

C-M...I think you are getting Crown Court and Magistrates Court mixed up ???

Speeding is a summary offence which will be dealt with in the magistrates court (as I said above - in front of likely 3 magistrates), and whilst I am not saying that JT can't have a barrister (as they normally work in the crown court), the likelyhood is that a solicitor would represent him in magistrates court.

J.T. - If you think a solicitor is going to be expensive, just stick another 0 on the end of the bill for a barrister:eek::eek:

Cba

Edited 12 January, 200917 yr by cheezemonkhai

C_M this is a speeding offence not a murder trial , as this is not about my trial I will not reply to your condescending remarks, could you find out how much your friendly barrister would charge to try to avoid J T being banned and the chances of a positive out come ., Then this thread will have been some help to our friend J-T

Cba

Edited 12 January, 200917 yr by cheezemonkhai

Forget pleading that losing your licence will cause you hardship and aim at who else depends on you that it would cause hardship too.

Also if you're disabled enough to have a blue badge, then some serious questions are going to get asked as to were you even in control of the car.

I'd disregard the advice of going it yourself and speak to a proper solicitor who can get a proper barrister to represent you in court. While you might save yourself some money defending yourself, if you get it wrong you might end up getting the lesser charge dismissed and replaced by a much more serious charge instead.

You and I don't know the law like a specialist and we also don't know the case law that surrounds it which might back up a case.

Thanks to all of you who have taken the trouble to respond to my post.

As I expected, there are a number of different views on this subject.

Cheezemonkhai, although I accept your view on getting legal representation as being the preferable route, I do take exception to your comment about ownership of a blue badge as being an issue of ability "to be in control of a car" :(

And just to clarify, although it doesn't justify my speeding, this section of the M1 is wide and open and there were very few cars around!

John.T

If you get a ban it will probably be short duration 7-28days and hopefully no points - so it can actually work out better.

As said, just go along in person, dress smart, be polite, appear as contrite as possible. If you have any mitigation that won't make you look more negligent, use it.

In case they ask your income, work out your answer beforehand, play it down as much as possible to minimise the fine.

Thanks to all of you who have taken the trouble to respond to my post.

As I expected, there are a number of different views on this subject.

Cheezemonkhai, although I accept your view on getting legal representation as being the preferable route, I do take exception to your comment about ownership of a blue badge as being an issue of ability "to be in control of a car" :(

And just to clarify, although it doesn't justify my speeding, this section of the M1 is wide and open and there were very few cars around!

John.T

Dont let anyone judge you on speeding, i'd bet 99.9% of people on here are guilty of it, and as for assuming because someone is disabled they can't control a car, well I think thats outrageous.

blue badge does not = cant drive

very sad statement mate think before you post shocking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have found online Motor Lawyers - Specialist Legal Advice for all Motoring Offences where you can have a 30 min. telephone consultation for £40 + VAT and they will also compile a plea of mitigation for £99 + VAT.

Thanks,

John.

I have to say that I would far rather look up a reputable local lawyer than go to some on line company that could be anyone anywhere. If they feel it is necessary and appropriate they will seek specialist advice. This MAY be a little more expensive but you will get face to face advice from someone who has a professional reputation to uphold locally

you know the old saying "a bird doesn't **** in its own nest"

Thanks to all of you who have taken the trouble to respond to my post.

As I expected, there are a number of different views on this subject.

Cheezemonkhai, although I accept your view on getting legal representation as being the preferable route, I do take exception to your comment about ownership of a blue badge as being an issue of ability "to be in control of a car" :(

And just to clarify, although it doesn't justify my speeding, this section of the M1 is wide and open and there were very few cars around!

John.T

TBH John I think the author should retract and apologise for the statement in the reply, to say that a 'blue badge holder' is potentially not in control of the vehicle they are driving is quite frankly insulting!! :thumbdwn:

Off topic: Congrats on the part order, well done....

Jay-Tee

First of all can I say it's nice to see someone who is prepared to own up and plead to a speeding offence they accept they have committed, instead of those who try to get off at all costs because they can't live up to their responsibilities.

Assuming the offence you face is one of speeding, there is no possible way that the case can be sent to the Crown Court. As stated in an earlier post, speeding is a summary offence which can only be dealt with in the magistrates' court. Whether or not you choose to use a legal representative is entirely up to you, but it is likely that you would have to pay them privately, so the potential cost might be obstructive.

The potential outcomes are a fine commensurate with your level of income, along with either an endorsement with anywhere between 3 and 6 penalty points, or a discretionary disqualification of between 7 and 28 days, according to magistrates' court sentencing guidelines. You obviously don't have a choice in which way the magistrates decide to go, but one course may be easier to bear than another. A short period of disqualification would put you off the road for a short time, but will not add penalty points to your licence. An endorsement of penalty points could become relevant if any further offences are committed, as if you reach 12 within a 3-year period, you face possible disqualification under the totting-up procedure. You will obviously have to notify your insurance company of the outcome, so you might want to check which outcome would have the most detrimental effect.

Being a case where discretionary disqualification is involved, you would not have to show "exceptional hardship" not to be disqualified - that is only relevant in totting-up situations. You will also not be in a position to show "special reasons" - that is relevant if you want to attempt to show that the circumstances of the offence are such that your licence should not be endorsed at all eg due to a dire medical emergency.

I noted an earlier post suggest that you should "play down" your income to minimise your fine. You need to be aware that the means form provided to the court is a document which has to be completed truthfully, and it is a criminal offence to provide false information.

Hope this information helps - I am not in a position to advise you on what you should or should not do - that is a decision for you - this merely describes the factual position.

blue badge does not = cant drive

very sad statement mate think before you post shocking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't say blue badge == not able to drive.

Blue badge means you are disabled in some, potentially very small, way which does not render you incapable to drive within the limits of the law.

However depending on the nature of the reason why the blue badge was issued, I could see circumstances (I don't know yours) where a person having a bad day could start down the road of something like this.

- Blue badge as difficulty walking/something else

- Ok to drive at limit

- But if you have sufficient capacity to drive fast etc then why do you have a blue badge?

- Well my muscles are a bit slow/vision a bit poor/some perfectly valid reason.

- Ahh so you were doing 100mph and admit your vision/control is not ideal...

- So then surely by going past the speed limit you were in fact knowingly driving without due car/dangerously etc...

Eg if you're not careful it can be twisted by somebody to have you admit to a more serious charge.

So to the OP, apologies if you took my comments in a way that was not intended and to all the people who have jumped on the bandwagon if you could get off it, that would be great.

Edited 12 January, 200917 yr by cheezemonkhai

That's how I read it, that the blue badge *could* go against you depending on the reasons issued. The court may also ask for the badge to be reviewed (to prove not being abused/faked illness etc) or even revoked.

Purely for this fact I would strongly advise you to at least seek proper advice on this, even if you opt not to have representation with you on the day. The CPS will use your badge against you in court.

C_T After a lively discussion on the best way for J-T to proceed , when I found your reply,s to my comment,s some what abrasive, but of course you are entitled to your opinion, why have you removed your post,s ? Melly Boy

If the CPS prosecutor is half decent his job is to prosecute, not persecute. In a straightforward traffic case their job is to outline the facts of the case and present them to the court, not to encourage the magistrates to throw the book at the defendant.

As far as representation in court is concerned, the legal adviser is there to advise the magistrates on their powers, and also, to a certain degree, to assist an unrepresented defendant.

why have you removed your post,s ? Melly Boy

Because you seem to know it all, and have rubbished what was good advice.

You may have been very lucky in your own case, but the same wont work all the time for every court and judge in the land. It's not YOUR licence on the line, so rather than stating your experience as factual advice, I'd refrain from giving advice which could get the OP in serious trouble as no one that has posted is formally legally trained in this area (with respect to the police members, they dont always follow to conviction simply pass to the CPS).

I got caught at 104mph at 11:30pm from 987 yards on a dry August night 3 years ago.

I chose to go to court rather than send in a guilty plea. I put a shirt and tie etc on, when i got there i couldn't get over how few people were appearing not to take court seriously!.

I did show remorse for what i had done but didn't go over board. Called by there titles to show respect.

In the end i got 28 days ban and £100 fine plus costs £40 and no points.

I thought it was going to be worse.

I guess if you dont want a ban then the fine will go up.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you John Regards Chris

G-MI Think C-M is quite capable of replying for himself ,if a defendant wishes to defend him/ her self that is their own decision, I found the court was very helpful, if the court feel,s that the defendant is not presenting his case in his best interest they will stop the trial and ask the defendant if they wish to seek legal advise. I can,t be the only person who ever defended themselves,