Served An NIP Then Withdrew The NIP

Question:

I received a Notice of Intended Prosecution on x. Then, on x, I received an apology saying that there had been a ‘clerical error’ and no further action would be taken.

On x I received a Final Reminder. I telephoned and was told that two Notices of Intended Prosecution had been issued and the apology referred to the second Notice which I definitely never received. I wrote to x Police explaining this and they replied that they were continuing with the prosecution.

Must I accept this?

Rob Says:

That’s a shame and upsetting. There’s a potentially complex legal argument to be had in relation to s.1 RTOA 1988 and the service of the NIP. They did serve one within 14 days and then retracted it the day after. You didn’t get the other one that they say they sent.

Therefore you could argue that they failed to serve a NIP within 14 days. I think its a reasonable argument if the court accept that you didn’t get the other one they say they sent – but you have to be up for a fight.

I’m afraid the only other way that you could avoid the matter is if you don’t accept that you were speeding at the time of the alleged offence. Having said that you may get offered the speed awareness course as an alternative to points due to the speed being low.

Have you got any points already? If so, how many?