Im in court on Monday

Dmtiling

I was pulled over at a check point in May of last year. My tax was out and so was my insurance. <--- Bad mistake. Anyway I now have to show up in court on monday to answer the charges. My summons is for No Tax - No Insurance - No NCT - NO licence.

I had a full Licence which i showed at the time, I also had a D.O.E and not an NCT since it was a commercial vehicle. A few days after i was stopped I got the van insured and Taxed.

two or 3 months later I was involved in a crash and the van was written off. Luckily I had everything in order then.

What can I expect to get in court. It is my first offense and I am not trying to make excusses.

I am self employed and a ban will surely be a big problem.

I have been reading other posts about people getting a 1 or 2 year ban and a fine. Getting a fine will not bother me and i expect this to happen anyway along with points on my licence.

On another note I know someone who was stopped while drink driving and only received a 3 month ban. Will i get more than this? It remains to be seen.

The worst I am worried about is jail time. Whats are the chances of this happening?

Any help here would be appreciated and I will write back as soon as I get back from court about what happened or post a message from my jail cell. Im sure they have the internet i there now.

Sorry for the long post and yes I know it was wrong to drive without insurance and come monday I am going to pay for that.

Seinas

im not trying to be smart or anything, but your solicitor can explain all that to you

hawkmoon269

Dmtiling wrote: »

The worst I am worried about is jail time. Whats are the chances of this happening?

Quite frankly, depends on the judge.

Your best option is to, as it were, throw yourself at the mercy of the court, express remorse, etc, or if you have a solicitor get him/her to do it on your behalf.

Number 1 rule, of course, is to turn up.

Also, ensure that you bring evidence of the taxing and insuring with you as the judge may ask to see it.

Croc

Also make sure you bring the other documents that you said you had at the time you were stopped as you will need them as proof.

When you taxed the vehicle did you also back tax it.

skyhighflyer

Get a good solicitor and hope for the best. No point asking questions here, you're basically at the mercy of the judge.

Del2005

Get a good solicitor and have them explain it for you. As the old saying goes "One who represents himself may have a fool for a client"

niceirishfella

Do all of the above.........and.......

Be on time
Wear a suit........shirt and tie and all.
Cleanly shaven, no ear-rings or any bling.
Respect the court.
Refer to the Judge as "Judge"
Look at him or her Square in the eye and express deep regret from your actions blah blah blah.
Have a word with the prosecuting Garda ahead of the court and express your sincere regret and ask for him/her to mention to the court that you apologise for your inaction in relation to the no insurance etc.

Hope for the best.
good luck

JHMEG

Let us know how you get on..

Armin_Tamzarian

I'd listen to all the previous advice.
Obviously it's the no insurance charge you have to worry about, everything else is pretty irrelevant.
Definitely get a solicitor, the penaly could vary widely and there's scope
for your solicitor to plea with the judge, unlike say a drinkg driving charge.

One thing, had you ever been insured on the vehicle in question prior to being stopped?
If so, how long had you been driving with no insurance?
If, for example, your insurance had only ran out only days before you were stopped then it would be plausible to say that it was an honest mistake on your part, that you had failed to notice that your insurance had expired.
The law has still been broken but the judge would probably look more kindly on someone in a situation like that than say someone who had been driving with no insurance for a long period of time, chancing their arm.

I'd be interested to hear how you get on, goodluck.

Dmtiling

Just an update on what happened. Jot a 1 year ban and several hundred euro in fines. Sticky this post because maybe it will be a lesson to never drive without insurance.

Boggles

Harsh enough, tuff judge I'd say. Did your brief mention you would be unemployed without your license?

niceirishfella

well, in this climate of speeding/drink driving and road smashes, i think you got off reasonably ok.

Noelie

Boggles wrote: »

Harsh enough, tuff judge I'd say. Did your brief mention you would be unemployed without your license?

I have to say I don't think it's harsh, there is no need to not have insurance or tax, you are sent renewals for both about a month before they run out so anyone who doesn't renew in time is just asking for trouble.

OP I do feel sorry for you, it was obviously a mistake on your behalf but it it also no ones fault but your own and everyone knows if you're stopped by the police without insurance you're getting a ban.

What if you hadn't been stopped by the police and then went on to have that accident un-insured you'd have been in a lot more trouble. (i'm assuming the crash was you're fault you didn't say if it was or not.)

randomer

Dmtiling wrote: »

Just an update on what happened. Jot a 1 year ban and several hundred euro in fines. Sticky this post because maybe it will be a lesson to never drive without insurance.

Did you engage a solicitor?

bbam

I forgot to renew my insurance in December and ended driving round for 6 weeks with no cover, my insurance company were very clear that I was not covered.

Only herself jumped up in bed on night and remembered the insurance I may have drove until I was stopped..

I consider myself very safety consious, have a full lisence for 18 years and would be dead in the water without lisence as I live in the sticks...

"There but for the grace of God go I" is all I can think.... I was sick to the pit of my stomach as I drove more than 2k miles in that timeframe...

The year will go in for you, with a good appeal in 6 months you'd have a good chance.... lesson learned is whats important...

cormie

Ouch, harsh lesson indeed. If I lost my license I'd be funked.

Seth Brundle

bbam wrote: »

I forgot to renew my insurance in December and ended driving round for 6 weeks with no cover, my insurance company were very clear that I was not covered.

Only herself jumped up in bed on night and remembered the insurance I may have drove until I was stopped..

Were you notified of the pending renewal?

Armin_Tamzarian

Dmtiling wrote: »

Just an update on what happened. Jot a 1 year ban and several hundred euro in fines. Sticky this post because maybe it will be a lesson to never drive without insurance.

Sorry to hear that.
Did you have a solicitor?
How long had you been driving uninsured.

I'm not sure if it applies in cases involving insurance but if you get a
2 year ban for drink driving, you can apply to have your licence back after half the ban, i.e. 1 year.
Once you haven't picked up any other motoring offences since your ban you usually only have to serve half the ban.

L1011

I find it slightly harsh considering the summons was clearly flawed with the no licence/no NCT charges on it.

Did you use a solicitor? A particularly slimy one might have got you off entirely due to that...

bbam

kbannon wrote: »

Were you notified of the pending renewal?

Yes but was distracted with other stuff at the time and it got lost....
Very Bad mistake...

Our man in Havana

Appeal this to the circuit court.

cormie

Bond-007 wrote: »

Appeal this to the circuit court.

Is that to the OP? Why would you suggest he does that? (Genuine question even though it sounds like I'm being smart the way I asked it ). I'd want as much help to get back on the road if I was in his shoes.

Our man in Havana

Exactly. He should have engaged a solicitor to begin with. With the defective summones for NCT/Licence he should have got away with a fine. If he appeals to the circuit and uses good represenation the ban will be removed.

cormie

That would be pretty good. Is that still the case even though he's guilty of the no insurance? Or is that what the fine would be for? Why would he be fined at all if he was to get away with the ban though, which is because the non-insurance offence I'm guessing.

What kind of costs could he be looking at to appeal with representation?

derek27

The chair. Farewell.

Our man in Havana

In the circuit court you basically get a fresh go at the case, all evidence is heard again and the judge makes up his own mind. The licence/nct stuff should have been dismissed. As to the no insurance charge, with good representation a ban can be avoided if you demonstate hardship to yourself and others eg loss of job, sick granny etc. He would receive a fine and an endorsement (still serious punishments) but a ban would be avoided.

As for the cost of represenation around €1000 would be normal.

unkel

Bond-007 wrote: »

Appeal this to the circuit court.

+1

A one year ban for a self-employed person who needs his van is harsh imho given the above details. Make sure you and your solicitor are well prepared for the appeal

cormie

Cool thanks for the info I know I'd be appealing straight away anyway!

unkel

derek27 wrote: »

The chair. Farewell.

Stop trolling, derek. Or you'll go on leave.

dereko1969

the OP hasn't stated whether he/she had a solicitor with them or indeed how long the tax and insurance were out of date, given the length of the ban i would think the tax and insurance were a good bit out of date, deciding on whether or not to appeal would probably be better posted in the legal section.
to be honest i think bans of this length are the only way people will learn to obey the law.

newbie2

Armin_Tamzarian wrote: »

Once you haven't picked up any other motoring offences since your ban you usually only have to serve half the ban.

How would you get any other motoring offences of you're banned?