[Bronthomasxx]

Can someone please help ( driving offences related)
I just want to start by saying I HAVENT committed this offence! No police tried to stop me or pull me over
December the 8th I was driving down a road, watched the police pass me and then stop and start turning, I did 💩 myself but I carried on driving and about 2 streets later they weren’t behind me so drove home and forgot about it. Yesterday my back plate fell off gone 10pm so popped it in my back window and throught balls I’ll run to Halfords and get some more tape in the morning, low and behold police straight away spot it and tell me I need to fix it back on now, no bother, I’ve managed to locate some tape from a friend. HOWEVER, they then ran my plates, got all serious and switched their body cams on and told me on the night mentioned above, I attempted and succeeded to run from the police ( now I’m no fast and furious driver but I promise you, they didn’t blue light me… I always stop when I’m told to and have in all previous situations). They asked for my details and then they confirmed that’s the details they have for me, made sure I was insured and I asked how bad it was for me, because I am 💩ing myself even after knowing they didn’t actually chase me. One police officer said I wouldn’t worry about it, they had your details for over a month and didn’t contact you and they should have issued an NIP within 14 days of the incident. Other police officer chimes in and basically tells me I’m screwed, they have 6 months to charge me that I could have killed people ( AGAIN I DIDNT RUN). But which is it? Everywhere online I’m reading that yes they have 6 months to CHARGE me but I should have been notified within 14 days… which I haven’t. The police officer ( nice one) said they wouldn’t have sent me anything if there was no evidence ( which there isn’t because I didn’t run). Am I right in thinking I should have been notified of this apparent offence, I have had my plates and insurance checked between this incident ( 27th December) and it wasn’t mentioned to me then? I’m worried now I’ve given them my details they’ll issue it within 14 days but it’s from time of offence not next time police happen to speak to me a month later… am I jumping the gun to get a solicitor? I’m so anxious

[Beelzebub]

What offence, exactly, did the officers say had been committed? Did they tell you you'd be reported for it?

[TC1474]

Blimey, a lot of information in there.

Firstly, the offence of failing to stop for a constable in uniform is a specific offence, and the Police have set procedures for carrying out those stops, usually from behind with blue lights flashing and a quick flick of the siren and a flash of the headlights. Very straightforward, very simple but the reason you get stopped from behind is because if (for example) you were a bandit vehicle, you are not going to wipe out the policeman if you do a runner (as happened to my colleagues back in the day when we used to pull from the front).

If it becomes a fail to stop, depending on the level of driving and speeds involved, then there is the option of deploying a stinger, or carrying out a Tpac stop which involved physical contact and is only used in extreme conditions.

Pursuits (if that is what they are alleging) can only be carried out by Traffic crews (or roads policing units as we are now called) not panda car crews.

Your situation by the sound of it did not fall into any of these scenario's and I am sure that you would have stopped had you been required to do so, and based on the many thousands of stops I have carried out, if it is just a case of follow, that is what you do knowing full well that you are going to have to stop at some stage. There seems to be no suggestion of any bad driving or excess speed.

If as you say you were driving in a perfectly responsible and legal manner, then I am sure the Police would have stopped you sooner or later.

As I was reading your post, my first thought was that your plate has been cloned.

It is possible that there is another vehicle floating around with a clone of your plate and it is this vehicle that may have been doing naughty deeds. So the question next is where did you supposedly commit the alleged offence, when did it happen, what was the make and what was the make, model and colour of the vehicle involved?

How close to where you live did this occur and do you have any supporting evidence to help prove that it cannot have been you? Fuel receipt for example, or were you with someone who can confirm this for you?

That said, even if they have decided that you need to be reported for offences (you do not get charged unless you are arrested), then as pointed out, a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) must be sent to the registered keeper in sufficient time for it to have a better than reasonable chance of landing on your doorstep within 14 days of the alleged offence.

Once the NIP is in the post, it is deemed to have been served even if it takes more than the 14 days to arrive, so the date on the NIP and the postmark become all important.

If No NIP sent (and you clearly were not given a verbal NIP at the time) then the rules of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) must be complied with of which the NIP is part of it (amongst the other compliance rules) and therefore a prosecution cannot proceed.

So you are on pretty safe ground based on what you have said so far.

This follows on in that the copper was right in that the Police have 6 months from the date of the alleged offence to lay information before the courts.

What this means is that the prosecution are required to notify the courts of their intention to prosecute you, even though it may take several more months before a court case took place.

If this information is not laid before the court within the 6 months then again the case cannot proceed. Its another safeguard.

So, I feel that you are on pretty solid ground and I would advise you to stop worrying. Unless the copper was trying to wind you up, I still think there is an issue of a possible clone out there, and your previous encounter on the night you mentioned was just coincidence.

I would not worry about legal representation at the moment because you have not on the face of it committed any offences and you have not received any documentation.

If this changes, then it may be worth speaking to someone as you will have a statutory defence and you could drop the police right in it by getting costs awarded against them 😉

Hope this helps?

[Bronthomasxx]

Thank you so much, this has eased my mind massively. I don’t think the plates have been cloned, they told me the road and it’s 4 minutes from my house… however I don’t quite know how I would prove this with it already being a month ago. The offence was at the beginning of December and they mentioned this to me on the 10th of January, so definitely out of the 14 day period as I have had many letters from this year arrive since so presumably it’s not still in the post. Like you said no real attempt to stop me was made so there is no evidence they can provide of this alleged stop. My worry now is that the police have told me about the offence 1 month on and they will now try to issue an NIP claiming they were unable to stop me, however they had body cams on and when he asked for my details, he confirmed that’s what they had on the system so I feel I can fight that as he has told me they had ways and means to contact me. If an NIP is now sent through, how do I fight it as presumably it’s out of the time scale as the last day to have sent it was 3.5 weeks ago? Can they serve me within the 6 months with no NIP? As this is what the officer has told me but under section one, running from the police requires an NIP so I feel like this is false?

I am hoping it’s a miscommunication and just a tag on my plate rather than anything more serious as there will be a huge lack of evidence if they try to proceed, only thing they will have is dash cam footage which will prove they made no attempt to pull me over so I feel like I should be safe.

it’s all just so worrying. I have decided to buy new personalised plates just to prevent being pulled over with this tag on my plate, it should also sort it if someone has cloned my plate. I just want to be rid of all this mess.

[Bronthomasxx]

The offence is failing to stop but they made no effort to pull me over, they couldn’t tell me if anything was going to happen. One told me not to worry and the other said I could be charged in the next 6 months depending on evidence but I’ve had no NIP or contact from the police from when the offence allegedly happened to that Friday when they said the tag was on my plate which is 42 days later

[olduser]

If there had been a chase (it looks as though there never was, and the coppers were amusing themselves winding the op up), would it have been videoed by the chasing car, this would have date and time recorded?

[TC1474]

Originally Posted by olduser

If there had been a chase (it looks as though there never was, and the coppers were amusing themselves winding the op up), would it have been videoed by the chasing car, this would have date and time recorded?

Not necessarily. Not every Police car has a video system, not even every traffic car is video cam equipped, but Panda cars certainly don't and very few if any area cars are cam equipped.

Like you say and like I said, I don't believe that anything happened, it was a wind up (and not a very good one at that) by the 2 coppers who thought they were being funny.

Would be grounds for a complaint, but the problem is proving it as you can be assured that unless the coppers in question were wearing body cams, they would close ranks and it would be the OP's word against theirs.

[Rolebama]

Back in the early 80s I had two Police Officers knock at my door. It was winter at around 7.30pm, so quite dark. They asked to see my car. I took them to my lock-up and one of them felt the bonnet. Stone cold. They then asked me to bring the car out of the garage into the light from a street lamp. They were both very polite in their requests, so I had no problem complying. When they were finished looking all round the car they explained that they had been chasing a car, displaying my number plate, around a housing estate about 4 miles from my home. It was the same car, same colour, but 'tattier' and with stickers on the back. They had called off the chase and decided to come to the registered keeper's home to wait for the driver to come home. they apologized for disturbing me and left. A couple of days later two other PCs came to tell me that the clown had been caught. Same car, but a different cloned plate on it.

[TC1474]

@Bronthomasxx
They cannot put information before the court without having served an NIP, and if they were to try and serve an NIP now the dates would put it out of date anyway.

If the copper told you that you were still liable to prosecution, then he is talking out of his backside and clearly does not know the law.

If they do try and prosecute (which I do not think they will do, then you simply contact the number on the top of the NIP and point out the dates and its illegality, and it should be withdrawn.

If it isn't then that is when you might need some professional help, but for the moment, you do not need to do anything.