Application for early removal of disqualification

[Jod1]

Hello,

I have just completed 29 months of a 42 month dr10 driving ban and in November I requested a hearing for the early return of my licence.

Two weeks ago I hadn't heard anything from the Court and was struggling to get through to anyone on the phone so emailed them to ask if they'd received my letter. On 7th December they replied and said that they couldn't find any correspondence from me and that I could scan and email the letter. As I've been busy at work and us approaching the 'drink drive' season I thought I'd apply again in the New Year.

This morning at 10 am I received a call from the Court Usher asking where I was! I advised that I hadn't received any hearing date and had in fact been told that my letter hadn't been received. The magistrates were keen to see me so I agreed that I could be at the court, completely unprepared within an hour.

I arrived at Court and a letter was read out that had been submitted by the police (?) Saying that they recommend I should not be given my licence back early, even saying that it was more luck than judgement that I had not been involved in an RTA (I wasn't driving when arrested but had just turned on the engine ready to pull away) and my previous conviction in 2010, I was stopped because of a headlight out).

The clerk did not read out my letter which had stated all my reasons for needing my licence back.

I explained my situation, but clearly not well enough as my request was turned down, hardly surprising when I had x1 hour notice to attend and no opportunity to get legal representation!

Could I appeal this decision by way of complaint about the Courts administration or do I need to wait another three months? Also, is it usual for the Court to contact the police? I can't find anything online which confirms of this is normal procedure?

I hope to hear back. Thank you in advance!

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

Applications for the early return of driving licences following mandatory bans for drink driving are governed by section 42 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988.

Subsection 4 of that section says:
"Where an application under subsection (1) above is refused, a further application under that subsection shall not be entertained if made within three months after the date of the refusal,"

This means you cannot renew your application to the Magistrates until three months has passed.

If you wish to appeal a decision of the Magistrates Court to the Crown Court then there is a strict 21 day time limit for lodging a written notice of your intention to appeal with the court and the other side (in this case the police/CPS - better to serve on both). The appeal is heard by the Crown court but it could take several weeks for your appeal to be listed. The appeal is effectively a re-hearing of your application.

It is a matter for you (although you may want to take legal advice) as to whether you seek to appeal the decision to the crown court within 21 days of the magistrates decision, or whether you simply re-apply to the magistrates court.

In my experience, I wouldn't say that it's common for the police to send a letter objecting to such applications but it does sometimes happen.