Any legal Beagles on here, can you help, my driver is being charged with dangerous driving, careless driving and failing to stop after a RTC, he was on the way back from Istanbul with a load of shower units and alleged to hit a lorry between Dover and Folkestone ?
What will the fine be, will there be a prison sentence, he does not remember hitting the lorry, several witness statements and an ex traffic policeman, who works for Highways England saw the road debris but not the RTC ?
He attended a voluntary interview, under caution .
The Roadhawk camera did not record the event .
Im not a legal eagle but I thought for any charge it had to be proved beyond reasonable doubt.
As you tell it no one saw the actual RTC. Is there any damage to your truck? Have you been contacted by the company whos truck you have allegedly hit or their insurers?
For Dangerous Driving he could be fined up to £5k in a magistrates court, and jailed for up to 6 months. If the case goes to Crown Court, there is no limit on the fine and he could be jailed for up to 2 years. Points and/or ban in both cases.
Careless Driving can only be dealt with by magistrates - Max £5k fine, points and possibility of a ban. No jail time though!
For fail to stop/report an unlimited fine and up to 6 months in chokey (with points and/or ban). Again, magistrates court only.
Realistically - couple of hundred quid fine and 3-6 points if convicted.
Have a look on fb for Rebecca Lewis-Murray, she is a public access barrister who covers motoring issues. From communications I’ve had with her she has working knowledge of HGVs.
Is he saying “I do not remember the collision” or “I did NOT have a collision”?
There is a WORLD of difference in the interpretation of those two statements.
No damage to your vehicle, at all? And yet there´s debris on the road?
And what are the witnesses actually witness to? That there´s debris on the road?
Commissioner Gordon! We need…gulp TN:CSI! Fire up the spotlight!
Why would you attend a voluntary interview under caution isn’t that just to get evidence against you when there isn’t any, what did his solicitor on the day say
No Comment every question. He needs to see the evidence before even admitting to being on the road in question. They are simply fishing for your guy to trip himself up and take blame for other drivers mistake. Say and admit nothing until it gets to court.
Sounds like your driver was passing after the incident, and the driver of the other vehicle,just thought he’ll be the one to blame.
Wrong place wrong time.
CraigM:
No Comment every question. He needs to see the evidence before even admitting to being on the road in question. They are simply fishing for your guy to trip himself up and take blame for other drivers mistake. Say and admit nothing until it gets to court.
^^^^^^^^
+1
thats the one to do.
they have no evidence,and they are fishing to see if your driver is the decent sort of honest guy to incriminate himself.
i do not remember having any accident,hence obviously i did not stop,or report one being unaware of the incident.
on subsequent investigation there is no visible evidence of any damage whatsoever to my vehicle and i have nothing more to say that could possibly assist you with your inquiry…end of statement.
they have charged him with dangerous so that nearer the time they will make a deal and offer to drop the dangerous if he pleads guilty to careless so that they get an easy conviction.
no comment,not guilty,then get a solicitor if its being pursued.
toby1234abc:
Any legal Beagles on here, can you help, my driver is being charged with dangerous driving, careless driving and failing to stop after a RTC, he was on the way back from Istanbul with a load of shower units and alleged to hit a lorry between Dover and Folkestone ?
What will the fine be, will there be a prison sentence, he does not remember hitting the lorry, several witness statements and an ex traffic policeman, who works for Highways England saw the road debris but not the RTC ?
He attended a voluntary interview, under caution .
The Roadhawk camera did not record the event .
I assume, that the HE TO came out of crosshabour outstation … the police have to prove beyond reasonable doubt … this traffic officer see debris on the road … and assumed that your truck was the culprit… there is no witnesses to state it was your driver only the damage … I really hope your driver undertook a no comment interview and had a lawyer present ., one question you need to ask your driver is did you hit him or not … I would be surprised if it be the case he didn’t know he hit the vehicle …
What I suggest you do is, call the HE head office and ask for the incident number for the collision from the SE RCC … based at jct 7 in Godstone. … ask for the CCTV… and request it under the FOI … that way you can locate the time of day place etc … and see if another vehicle with similar marking was running the same route …
I assume Kent RPU is dealing it with.
I have a feeling that the ex traffic cop from Kent police at the HE (I can’t say his name on here) …but will PM you it … edit I tried to pm you but it wouldn’t allow … I think the initials could be CS.
The HE officer on scene would of entered data into his personal note book, now he is claiming to be a witness I would suggest you get your insurer to instruct lawyers to obtain said info if it is not forthcoming…
That´s a great piece of advice there, Discodude
What about this though? "one question you need to ask your driver is did you hit him or not … I would be surprised if it be the case he didn’t know he hit the vehicle "
I would have thought that the LAST thing you,or his lawyer, need to know is that your driver did, indeed, hit the other vehicle, and has readily admitted it to you, or his lawyer?
Isn´t that kind of accessory after the fact?
I dunno, I´m tired.
Going to bed.
