What Happens if I Plead Guilty?

When you plead guilty to either some or all of the offences, the Crown Prosecutor will outline the offence details to the presiding Magistrate or District Judge. The Crown Prosecutor will give an outline of the offences, as well as drawing the Courts attention to any previous convictions for similar kinds of offences. The Crown Prosecutor will also lodge an application for prosecution costs in relation to your case.

The amount of these costs will depend on what point in the proceedings you have pleaded guilty or have been found guilty. The Magistrate or District Judge will decide whether or not to agree to the Crown Prosecutions cost application. Your financial circumstances are also considered before making a final decision. Once the Crown Prosecutor has given details of the circumstances of your offences, you will be given the opportunity to explain your version of events to the Magistrates.

This is known as ‘giving mitigation’. During your mitigation you should cover why the offence occurred as well as the circumstances in which it occurred. If for example the offence is a speeding offence, you should explain that the roads were clear and the weather was good and your speed was caused by a momentary lapse in concentration on your part.

This is your opportunity to think of valid reasons why you committed the offence, as well as explaining to the Magistrates anything that you feel will make them feel sympathetic towards your case. This is also the point where you should give details of your relevant personal circumstances / special reasons.

If you are at risk of losing your driving licence this is a good time to explain that your have people who are reliant on you driving them around (if appropriate). It is also a good idea to bring supporting letters with you to support this mitigation.

It is advisable to bring letters from people that the Court will respect. Character references should cover how long the person has known you, and in what capacity. A character reference from your employer would be beneficial especially if a driving ban would result in you losing your job.

Once the Magistrate has heard from the Crown Prosecution regarding the specifics of your offence and has heard from you with regards to your mitigation, they will make a decision about what sentence to impose. They may well consult with the Court Clerk with regard to appropriate sentencing guidelines. The Magistrates will also take your personal financial circumstances into account.

You will be provided with a form by the Court so that you can provide the necessary details. The Magistrates will next announce their sentence. If a fine is imposed then you will usually be given time to pay. Depending on the size of the fine and your circumstances this may be weeks or months.

The Courts do like fines to be paid as quickly as possible, but if your personal financial circumstances don’t allow for this then they will consider a suitable time frame for payment to be made. It is up to you to ask for time to pay when the Magistrates ask you how quickly you can pay. Many Courts have a fines collections department in the building.

If they do and you have agreed to pay the fine in one go then you should make your payment at the collections office before you leave the Court buildings. The Court Usher will be able to provide you with information about the various fine payment options. If the Court impose penalty points on your driving licence then these will be added by the DVLA as soon as the Court has notified them.

If the Court disqualify you from driving then you cannot drive home from the Court. Any disqualification begins immediately. If you continue to drive after being disqualified by the Court, then you will be guilty of driving whilst disqualified (the police often catch newly disqualified drivers leaving court). Driving while disqualified is an imprisonable offence.

It is taken very seriously by Magistrates if you breach an Order of Disqualification. If you are at risk of receiving a driving ban for your offence it is best to make alternative travel arrangements just in case.

If you receive a fine in relation to your driving offence then depending on the point in time when you plead guilty, the fine will be reduced by up to a third. The earlier you admit the offence, the smaller your fine and potential Court costs will be.

The Trial

It is important to attend Court promptly for your trial. Each trial has a specific time slot allocated. You should also make sure that your witnesses also attend. To commence the trial, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will give a brief outline of your alleged offence or offences to the presiding Magistrates.

The CPS will then call each of their witnesses in turn that they will rely upon in order to prove the case against you. They may for example call the police officer who originally took the breathalyser sample at the time of your offence. That officer will give his or her evidence with regard to their particular involvement in your case.

Once the CPS has finished asking their witness questions relating to what happened and their knowledge of events to do with your offence/s, you will have the chance to cross-examine the witness. This is your opportunity to ask them questions about what they claim to have done or have seen and this is the point where you should make it clear to them if you think that they are mistaken or have given an incorrect account of the events.

The rules with respect to the laws of evidence and the ways in which witnesses can be cross-examined are quite complex. We can advise you on the best ways to cross-examine your witnesses in order to achieve the best outcome.

When the CPS has finished with all of their witnesses and you have had the opportunity to cross-examine them about their account of the pertinent events surrounding your case, you will then have the opportunity to give evidence to the Court on your own behalf. When giving evidence you should always outline your account of the events to the Magistrates.

Once you have outlined your account of the events, the CPS will have the opportunity to ask you questions in relation to the offence or offences in question. The Crown Prosecutor will attempt to make you accept responsibility for what they are claiming you have done wrong. As soon as the CPS have finished asking you questions you will be given a further opportunity to add anything that has arisen from the Crown Prosecutions questioning with relation to your defence.

You will then have the chance to call your witnesses that you have brought to Court to give evidence on your behalf. You can ask your witnesses questions in order to extract their account of events to the Court. Once you have questioned each witness the Crown Prosecutor will have the opportunity to question them to test their account of events.

The CPS will be trying to demonstrate to the Court that you were responsible for the offence.

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