I ran a light back in the summer —totally my fault. But was on holiday in France while my license was being re done from an address change, so this meant I missed the deadline to provide my license. I'd left messages to explain this, but the officer went ahead and got me prosecuted at court.

I've now a letter in (packed with exaggerated claims of how I overtook 5 parked cars and never answered his calls) but the letter asks me to attend court for the red light offence, it is a 60 pound fine normally and 3 points, but it gives the option to plead guilty and not attend court.

I'd love to do this, but afraid that it will mean they slap a bigger fine on? Does anyone know what happens or is the best advice to just turn up? Hate this, been driving 19 years with nothing against me until I bought the Sport!  

over took 5 parked cars, you rebel, best not drive past Tesco, you could be done for overtaking 100 parked cars

if you fancy your chances, go to court, but they might go with the account and your then 6+points and £XXX and £XXXX costs out of pocket

Ask for video evidence to back up the claim of overtaking parked cars etc

Unless you've got a decent lawyer, plead guilty and take the slap. Magistrates believe coppers so if he stands up and says what you say he says you'll get a bigger slap from the court. 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

I'd love video evidence, was a temporary road works signal. Been watching it all week - the other side took 40 odd seconds to change, so I went cowboy. Never again! So angry - but I'm caught red handed!

What my question is - Will I get a worse fine if I plead guilty by post or will it be the same £60? 

I would attend court, plead guilty to the red light district charge Explain why you couldn't surrender your licence during the allocated time scale. Also explain you told this to the officer you delt with. No doubt this can be backed up by the DVLA. You should get a slapped wrist, £100 fine i think it is these days, and 3 penalty points on your licence. Make sure you take it to court with you.

Last edited by Ady 555 on Mon Oct 27 2014 3:10pm. Edited 1 time in total

I would expect the normal fine and points if you plead guilty. The idea, after all, is to make you not go to court so they save court time for important stuff. 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

Thanks all, I am totally at fault over the red light, I was impatient and thought I knew better. I deserve the points and fine to be honest. But I hate that the officer disregarded 3 out of my 4 messages. He also exaggerated that the light on the other side had already turned. I guess he wanted it to look 100% that I was a prick in a sport.

I'm so tempted to just take the guilty by post and hope to get the £60 fine and points, but I'm afraid that they will surprise me with like a £900 fine or something. In that case I'll forever kick myself for not taking the time out.

Appreciated your thoughts guys.  

he say's the other light had already changed, how could he see both ends at the same time? Surely he either saw you drive past the red light, or he was looking at the light controlling the other side, not both.

Problem is coppers will lie and make it worse then it originally is. I had a bad experience about 18 years ago parked out side my daughters School in a brand new car. Policemen came along and asked me to move my car straight away with an attitude. I told him I'd be 2 secs and in the end cut a long story short he chased me home with my young kids in car and when I got home he read the " your under arrest " !!!! I was shocked and disgusted with his behaviour. I had to attend court and it was not very nice place to be. I felt out of place and should not of even been in there as I done no WRONG. To this day I still can't believe it. So to the OP just turn up and say the truth. The copper would of lied just to make another booking for him.
Good luck hope you get on OK.
If I would of had my Range Rover Sport at the time God knows what I would of got I'd probably still be serving a sentence to this day LOL........

Ouch! That is a bad one, parking at my girls school is mental at the minute, I've been waiting for the cops to be round to clear us all out. The injustice of it makes you mad. But I just want it done and over. The idea of being out of my comfort zone in court with no idea on what works is not a big sell for me. 

Quote:

Ouch! That is a bad one, parking at my girls school is mental at the minute, I've been waiting for the cops to be round to clear us all out. The injustice of it makes you mad.

the injustice of the police enforcing no parking areas around schools, to make your kids safe

Sorry I meant the injustice of the cops making up stories, not the parking
I love the police and the law, it is what makes our country stand out. Just sometimes you end up on the bad end, I hate that.

Schools are not planned correctly for parking, at least the old ones are not. There is physically one small street to serve around 300 cars! So you sort of expect it to be mayhem. I park on the main road and walk, mainly because I'm not confident parking the Sport with kids crossing around the backs of cars. 

sorry misread it, agreed though, schools and parking are often badly planned.

back on topic

have you made your mind up yet?

Im actively looking a solicitor to just give me a thumbs up, so asked around my clients to see who has any indication of what to expect. I'm swaying to post a guilty. 

designboy wrote:

Schools are not planned correctly for parking, at least the old ones are not.