Wrong name on summons, Motor offence solicitors Nottingham, UK

Wrong name on Court Summons

Summons – Is it correct? Amending Summonses

Generally the Police or VOSA have 6 months from the date of most motoring offences in which to submit the information to Court for the matter to proceed by way of prosecution. A driver should receive the summons within 6 months of the incident date and so long as the information has been put before the Court within the 6 months from the date of the incident, the summons will be valid.

Often, when a driver attends Court to answer a summons, the Prosecution may wish to put a further, or alternative, allegation. A driver may waive a summons for a new charge, but a driver is entitled to know exactly the charge and should be told of the right to an adjournment to consider the new allegation and take legal advice. A driver should always take legal advice if he or she thinks the summons may be defective in any way.

A summons can be amended, however, the decision whether to amend depends upon the nature of the matter and whether a driver has been misled, or the defect is so fundamental that there might be injustice to proceed. Sometimes it goes to the heart of the matter, so, for example where a defendant is the wrong limited company, a summons cannot be amended to show who the defendant is. Generally, the later the stage in the proceedings, and the more material the amendment, the less desirable it becomes to grant the amendment because of the prejudice to the motorist.

A defective summons can be withdrawn and a regular can be issued in its place, if within the time limit. It is often the case that inexperienced solicitors pick up on these points and by remaining silent or by not taking up these particular issues, defendants end up being convicted by default.

If you have received a summons and you consider the summons could be incorrect; perhaps it is unclear precisely what the offence is, or the summons has been issued late, or maybe the wrong legislation has been applied, or simply the correct defendant does not appear on the summons. If so, please contact one of our specialist road traffic lawyers for advice on freephone 0800 046 3066. We are based in Nottingham but offer a nationwide service