Driving Law News - Patterson Law
A new client came to us after being banned by the Magistrates for 6 months. He had accumulated 12 points within 3 years and the Magistrates court banned him for 6 months. The client tried to argue exceptional hardship on his own and the court rejected his argument.
Our client instructed us to represent him at court when he was charged with overloading a hired minibus. He had hired the minibus as he had his extended family visiting for a holiday. At the same time builders were refurbishing his house and asked him if he could help them collect some extra sand and cement. Our client agreed and they went with him to the DIY shop to collect the materials.
Our client was stopped on the way back home for overloading. He was devasted by the charge and the subsequent court proceedings, due to the fact that it was an innocent mistake and he was in the process of applying for an indefinite leave to remain in the UK visa.
He approached many so called motoring lawyers before us who told him to plead guilty and take the fine and points. We acted on his behalf and made a special reasons argument and also an argument under s.48 RTOA 88. The court agreed not to give any points and to impose an absolute discharge meaning that the conviction was imediately spent.
At Patterson Law we think outside of the box and we go the extra mile to try and achieve the results you need. Contact us now on 01626 359800 or email e.patterson@pattersonlaw.co.uk if you want lawyers who represent an island of excellence in a sea of mediocrity!
Police attempt to clamp down on suspected street racing !
Hi Emma. Thanks to Rob and your fantastic firm I still have a life. 30 points on my licence and I can still drive!! 2 days later and i still cannot believe it, please give me a quick call so I can say a personal thank you. regard x
Suspended jail sentence for attempting to pevert the course of justice!
Woman pretended she was abroad at the time of the offence and therefore stated she was not and could not have been the driver.
Not a client of ours we hasten to add...!
If you need help with dealing with a request for driver information - come to us first before getting yourself into deeper water. We can often advise on a more sensible approach and still help you avoid losing your licence if its at risk....
Choosing your lawyer is a tricky decision.
There are lots of law firms out there who claim to specialise in Road Traffic Offence Law. There are plently of lawyers who will try and convince you that they know best. Lawyers will often contradict each other.
How do you make a decision as to who is the best firm to instruct on your behalf?
We defend lots of allegations under s.3 Road Traffic Act 1988, i.e. driving without due care and attention.
Every case is different and are all decided on their own merits.
One recent chap was accused of being impatient and over taking inappropriately. The car in front was indicating left but proceeding very slowly. Our client overtook him and almost caused a collision with a police officer that just happened to be driving towards him on the opposite side of the road.... read on...
Trust me it doesn't happen very often......We want it in writing, framed and on the wall!
We were asked to advise a client on an application to lift a ban early after he had served two years of the three years imposed...
Whilst taking intial instructions it became clear he should not have got a ban in the first place....!!
All the lawyers in court got it wrong - The District Judge, The Court Clerk, The CPS and most importantly our client's OWN lawyer ! (Not us I hasten to add)
Star Case Progression Officer Alicia Payne gets the right result for desperate "Trucker" client at risk of a ban........
Possibly our best day ever at Patterson!!
8 Cases defended/points avoided/withdrawn in one day.
Do not use online letter packs that claim to "Get yourself off a Speeding Ticket - Guaranteed!"
No two cases are the same. You must not mislead the police. A pro forma letter is not necessarily going to be relevant to the cirmcumstances of your case.
The road traffic police have seen them all a thousand times before.
This article relates to a recent victory at court. The case does not set a precedent - but it shows that if handled with care it is possible to avoid points in a no insurance case where no one else was at fault.
Read on......
Don't get 3 penalty points and a fine for having snow on the roof of your car !
Seasonal Advice from the Road Traffic Lawyers at Patterson Law..Read on.....
Money doesn't buy you a road traffic offence defence !
This is an extract from BBC news regarding Nick Freeman's recent failure to defend Chris Tarrant in relation to two Speeding Allegations...
Mr Nick Freeman tried to argue that the two speeding offences occured on the same occassion as they were only 20 mins appart.
Our view is that this argument was doomed from the start ! The argument only works if you are heading in one direction and its one continuous act of driving. If you stop and start the journey, or turn around and come back again you cannot argue the allegation are one speeding offence. The case law is clear.
Mr Nick Freeman then went on to argue that it was an abuse of process to prosecute as the summons was received outside of the 6 month limitation period.
This argument was also doomed to failed. In order to succeed with this argument you have to prove that the summons was issued outside of the limitation period - not that it was received outside of that period. You also have to prove that the delay makes it more difficult for you to to defend yourself. Mr Tarrant would have known about these allegations when he first received the Notice of Intended Prosecution within 14 days of the alleged offence ! See below for the story;
Yet another example of us having to act on behalf of clients that have been poorly represented by others;
We love receiving feedback from all those connected with our cases.
We are especially grateful for feedback from our Barristers.
Nadeem Holland from Castle Chambers, Harrow acts on behalf of our clients on a regular basis and achieves amazing results at trials when acting on our client's behalf.
This is what Nadeem has to say about our services;
A message to all you chaps out there who think you can get your women folk off road traffic offences...
We have dealt with two very important cases recently where we have had to correct mistakes that have been made by either previous lawyers who have acted on our client’s behalf or by the Court and the CPS.
We hear lots of tails of woe but we were particularly passionate about these two cases, both of which had a devastating effect on the clients involved.
"I am amazed and delighted at the speed with which you answered my free question, removed my problem and gave me a night's sleep and all wihtout charging a penny. Thank you very much Emma."
Here's a recent question about driving without insurance 5 times in a row.
I assume he is young and ignorant but it makes my blood boil.....
Its a reliable indication of how good you are as a defence lawyer when the Police Federation ask you for advice !
"Thank you for all your help. After our conversation I wrote out a plan, for the officer, for court. He printed it off and used it when addressing the bench. This included the legal points, his position and that of CPS. In short it worked and he was found not guilty."
John Grant
Chairman - Thames Valley Police Federation
Instructed 4pm yesterday! Succesfully won trial today at 2pm....!
Patterson Law Lawyer Ria Pleass strikes again on behalf of motorist at risk of a ban...read on..
In October 2009 the government brought in legislation resulting in innocent people not being able to recover their full legal costs when found not guilty.
The Law Society launched a judicial review and won!! Read on....
The following is an email exchange between Emma Patterson and a solicitor that is applying to become a duty solicitor at the police station and magistrates court.....
See what you think ! If you want an expert in road traffic law then don't take risks with who you instruct.
New service from Patterson Law achieves great success rates....
Last October the government decided in its wisdom to bring in legislation which meant that if you successfully defended yourself in a criminal matter you could only recover your reasonable fees at legal aid rates.
Ironically you cannot get legal aid for the vast majority of road traffic offences and most people that can afford to run a car would not be elligable for legal aid anyway! Further the vast majority of genuine Road Traffic Offence Law experts are not in a position to work for legal aid rates.
The law society launched a judicial review of the legislation. There have been some developments and an intial response from Government Lawyers.
The following is an extract from TimesOnline 27.5.10........
As far as we know we are the only lawyers in the country that openly advertise our success rates.
We believe that you have a right to know how well we do at what we do!
We also believe that to be the best we have to keep a close eye on what we achieve so that we never let our standards slip. Look at our amazing statistics to see for yourself.....
Crown Proscution Service withdraw allegation at 11th hour - after rejecting intial representations....
South West magistrates Court finds that farmer's field used as a fee paying car park in the summer is not a public place !
We handle all our cases with the utmost care, but sometimes a client needs a greater degree of support and flexibility than would normally be required. This can be due to work commitments or only being available to give instructions at unsociable hours. It may also be down to the need to manage media coverage of their case or the potentialy devasting impact of a ban on their business/job.
In light of this we have decided to introduce "The Platinum Service".....
Notice of intended prosecution received more than 14 days after the alleged offence?
Read this before you reply .......
We have just won an important victory at Truro crown Court in relation to an allegation of speeding.
The Judge found that the speed trap at A30 Temple Junction - was potentially unreliable and the conviction in the Magistrates Court was unsafe....read more