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#Post#: 104983--------------------------------------------------
SJP speeding & F2F dual charges. How to respond?
By: Jack Date: January 7, 2026, 11:44 am
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I've just received a SJPN with 2 charges:
[list]
[li]Offence 1: Failed to give information relating to the
identification of the driver of the vehicle[/li]
[li]Offence 2: Speed exceeding 30 miles per hour - 35 MPH[/li]
[/list]
For context, I moved house earlier this year and whilst I had
updated the address on my driving licence, I had not, at that
time, updated my V5C address.
I have read elsewhere that standard advice is to plead not
guilty to both offences and in the mitigating circumstances
section, offer to plead guilty to the speeding offence on the
condition that the failure to provide information offence is
dropped. Have I understood this correctly?
Does anyone have any guidance on what to state in terms of
mitigating circumstances. I've read elsewhere warnings to not
provide too much information and that coming across as arrogant
has led to prosecutors responding more harshly.
I currently have no points on my licence and would like to
minimise them if possible.
Thanks very much.
#Post#: 104992--------------------------------------------------
Re: SJP speeding & F2F dual charges. How to respond?
By: andy_foster Date: January 7, 2026, 12:09 pm
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35 in a 30 will be 3 points regardless of mitigation or winding
up the bench.
Mitigation tends to be very fact specific, and for most facts,
not helpful when facing a speeding charge. We offer advice and
interpretation of the law based on the facts as described to us
by the OP. Do NOT ask us to suggest speculative facts that might
assist if you were to manage to convince the court were
applicable!
If you want advice regarding mitigation, tell us what mitigation
you think you have to put forward, and we will most likely tell
you that it variously won't help or will make matters worse. In
the unlikely event of you having some helpful mitigation to put
forward, we would also advise you on that, but I'm not holding
my breath.
The best that you can hope for is to respectfully invite the
court to consider sentencing in line with the fixed penalty that
would have been offered if you had updated your address on the
V5C. They have guidelines that suggest doing so when a fixed
penalty was not able to be accepted for reasons unrelated to the
offence - in other words you weren't going too fast for a fixed
penalty - although they may well decline because the reason you
were unable to accept a fixed penalty is your own fault, and
consists of two separate offences you are not being convicted of
(assuming that the deal to drop the s. 172 is done) - failure to
update the address on your V5C and failing to name the driver
(due to not receiving the NIP due to not updating the address on
your V5C).
#Post#: 104997--------------------------------------------------
Re: SJP speeding & F2F dual charges. How to respond?
By: Jack Date: January 7, 2026, 12:17 pm
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Thanks. I'm fine with the 3 points for the speeding, just want
to avoid the additional 6 points for the s172 if at all
possible. I didn't mean to imply that I feel I have mitigating
circumstances - perhaps I phrased it poorly. I just don't know
if my circumstances would allow me to do "the deal" and if so
how to actually go about it.
#Post#: 105014--------------------------------------------------
Re: SJP speeding & F2F dual charges. How to respond?
By: NewJudge Date: January 7, 2026, 2:04 pm
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Respond to the SJPN by pleading not guilty to both offences. In
the "reasons for pleading not guilty" section say you are
willing to plead guilty to the speeding offence on the condition
that the "failure to provide driver's details" charge is
dropped.
Before the pandemic it was necessary to attend court to
negotiate this "deal". When the pandemic hit courts were
obviously keen to avoid as many personal attendances as possible
and arrangements were made for this deal to be accepted without
a court attendance. Many courts have continued with this process
but some have reverted to requiring a personal appearance. If
you make your intentions clear in response to the SJPN you may
be saved a trip.
In the “mitigation” section you can explain that the reason for
your predicament was your failure to update your V5C. You could
then ask if the court might consider sentencing you at a level
equivalent to the fixed penalty. They have guidance which
suggests they might do so in some circumstances:
“Where a penalty notice could not be offered or taken up for
reasons unconnected with the offence itself, such as
administrative difficulties outside the control of the offender,
the starting point should be a fine equivalent to the amount of
the penalty and no order of costs should be imposed. The
offender should not be disadvantaged by the unavailability of
the penalty notice in these circumstances.”
Of course it was your fault that you did not receive the
“request for driver’s details”, but don’t ask and you won’t get.
All this assumes, of course that you were the driver at the
time. If you were not all bets are off.
#Post#: 105302--------------------------------------------------
Re: SJP speeding & F2F dual charges. How to respond?
By: Jack Date: January 10, 2026, 4:44 am
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Thanks very much!
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