Taking someone else's Penalty Points - Go to Jail!

One of the most unpleasant things that any of us receive in the post is a dreaded – Notice of Intended Prosecution from the Police. This means of course that we have been caught by a speed camera and will have to face a fixed penalty of £60.00 and three points on our driving licence.

I can still remember the day I received one and then noticed there was another one attached to the back. I had been caught by the same set of cameras, on the way there and on the way back, and had to face the double consequences! It also put me on 9 points. As 12 points normally leads to a ban I was the most cautious driver in the UK for the next year or so. It can be a worrying time.

Former Minister Chris Huhne found himself facing a possible ban back in 2003. He got his then wife to take the rap and say that she had been driving his car. That must have seemed a good idea at the time but it is now going to see him behind bars.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/feb/04/chris-huhne-facing-jail-justice

This is because the arrangement with is wife amounted to Conspiracy to Pervert the Course of Justice. In this country that is a serious criminal offence. 

Earlier this year the BBC reported that one person had helped hundreds of drivers to provide false information and was handed a 7 year prison sentence.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17365818

Mr. Huhne had already resigned from the Cabinet. He will now have to stand down as a Member of Parliament and has been told by the judge to expect to go to jail when he is sentenced next week -

"You should have no illusion whatsoever as to the sort of sentence that you are likely to receive."

It is fair to say that he would have been better advised to simply take the consequences.

It may be tempting to simply ask someone else to ‘take the points’ but the consequences are severe. For the sake of avoiding some points and £60.00 fine drivers face the risk of a prison sentence and a criminal conviction which will ruin many a career.

www.eadsolicitors.co.uk