Today was a pretty typical day for Steve Williams, a Motoring Solicitor
I was in my local Court, Nottingham Magistrates Court. My client had been caught speeding, travelling at 37 in a 30mph limit. This would normally mean that she would be dealt with by way of a fixed penalty of 3 points and a £60 fine.
Unfortunately for my client she already had 9 points on her licence at the time of the offence which meant that she would have to be disqualified for 6 months by the court. This would have an awful effect on her and her family, she was the only wage earner and she could not do her job without her driving licence.
I had previously advised my client that I was confident that I would be able to convince the court to let her keep her licence as we would be able to argue that she would suffer exceptional hardship if she was banned.
The case at Nottingham Magistrates Court was listed along with many others, most of the defendants were facing simple speeding fines, where the speed was too high to be dealt with by way of a fixed penalty. Just before our case was called on a man in his 30’s appeared before the court to argue the same thing as us. He was a senior account manager for a large company and was well presented and articulate. He was not represented. He presented what was on the face of it a good case however it started to crumble as the Crown Prosecutor probed his case and cross examined him.
The upshot was that the court refused his application and banned him for 6 months. I felt sorry for him, he had a good case. With proper preparation and forewarning of the type of questions he would have been asked he would have kept his licence and job. I am confident I would have won that for him and for the cost of less than a weeks wages he would have kept his job.
My client had sat at the back of court and despite my reassurances that she would win her exceptional hardship application she looked terrified after seeing the mauling that the previous defendant had got. When her case was called on I went through her case asking her all of the questions I knew the prosecutor would ask. There were no questions from the prosecutor, no room for him to argue and the court allowed her to keep her licence. She left court very relieved.
**Steve Williams is the Motoring Solicitor, these diaries are based on true case, details, including the court have been changed in order to protect the clients confidentiality. Not all of Steve Williams’ cases are reported in the diary.
If you would like advice from Steve Williams call 01623 397200
