I received a call yesterday from a woman who said “I have just received a letter from the court telling me that I have to pay a fine and that points will be put on my licence. This is the first I have heard of it.”

This is not as unusual as you may think. I often hear this, letters from the court go astray and people think that they will not hear anything in relation to the speeding matter that the police wrote to them about 4 months ago.

The next thing that they hear is that they have been found guilty, fined and points put on their licence.

All is not lost and I will take you through the procedure of getting back to the beginning.

First you need to apply to Set aside the conviction. You do this by going to or ringing the court that has sentenced you. Tell them that you did not know anything about this and ask to set aside the conviction. This must be done within 28 days of hearing about the matter (so the day you received the fine notice).

You will then be invited to attend court to make a statutory declaration. You will be asked to swear on oath that you knew nothing of the proceedings. If the cort accept this then the matter will be set aside and you will have no conviction, fine or points against you. Sometimes this is the last you will hear of it, normally the Crown Prosecution will issue another summons and you will be given a new hearing date. If it is your intention to plead not guilty then you will be given the chance to do that and the matter will be listed for trial.

If you need any help with this feel free to contact Steve Williams on 01623 397200