A Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) is a notice issued by the police that informs an individual that they intend to prosecute them for a motoring offence. Under s1 Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988, a Notice of Intended Prosecution must be issued to the driver or registered keeper of a vehicle identified as having been involved in a motoring offence. Offences for which a notice must ordinarily be served include speeding, contravening a traffic signal (e.g. a red light), careless driving, dangerous driving or using a mobile phone whilst driving.
The purpose of the NIP is to ensure that sufficient notice is given to the registered keeper or the driver of the vehicle that they could be prosecuted whilst events are still fresh in their mind. This process is designed to ensure that the driver is not unfairly prejudiced in the event the matter progresses to Court.
The NIP can be given verbally by the police at the time of the alleged offence after a vehicle has been stopped. If the vehicle was not stopped at the time it may be served by post on the registered keeper of the vehicle within 14 days. If it is served by post it should contain the following details:
There are some exceptions to the rule that a notice must be served within 14 days of an alleged offence.
There are a number of reasons why you may not have been issued a notice in the post within 14 days. If you were stopped by the police it may have been given verbally. In the case of speeding offences, the police may issue you with a conditional offer of a fixed penalty of 3 points and £100.00 fine by post or an offer of a speed awareness course. If the offence is considered too serious for a speed awareness course or fixed penalty you may be charged with an offence which normally occurs by way of the issue of a Single Justice Procedure Notice.
If the vehicle within which the alleged offence took place was registered to another person or company there is technically no need for a notice to be issued to the driver. After the police have obtained details of the nominated the driver, they will normally send the notice to them, although there are no time limits within which they must do so (provided that the notice was received within 14 days by the registered keeper of the vehicle). In such circumstances, a person may receive a notice several months after the alleged offence too place but still be prosecuted.
Failure to respond to a requirement for driver details will normally result in a prosecution for failure to furnish information contrary to s172 Road Traffic Act 1988. This offence carries 6 penalty points on conviction, which is a higher penalty for most offences in relation to which the NIP has been issued. Therefore, it is rarely a good idea to ignore the NIP.
If you are being asked to name the driver, you should provide the details of the person you believe was driving. However, if there was a number of possible drivers you should include in response the names, addresses and dates of birth of them all, explaining why you are not sure who the driver was.
If the police receive an admission from the person to whom the NIP has been issued that they were driving at the time of the offence there are three ways the matter can be progressed:
If the offer of a speed awareness course is refused, the driver may accept a fixed penalty if one is available or alternatively they may elect to undergo Court proceedings.
If the recorded speed was too high for a speed awareness course (10 % above the speed limit + 9 mph is the usually applied threshold) then a fixed penalty may be offered. Alternatively the matter may proceed straight to Court. As an example, a speed of 95mph or more in a 70mph zone will generally always result in an SJPN being issued as this is speed too high for either a Speed Awareness Course or offer of a fixed penalty.
The fact that you disagree with the allegation does not mean that you are entitled to withhold information in relation to the identity of the driver if it is required. If you admit to being the driver it does not necessarily follow that you accept having committed the offence as the police will still be required to prove all other aspects of the offence. For example, it is possible that you may have been driving but the speed reading being relied upon by the police was not accurate.
In such a situation, if you were driving and wish to challenge the allegation the best course of action will almost certainly be to confirm that you were the driver and to elect for the matter to be subject to Court proceedings.
Call us now or complete a contact form on the right-hand side for advice about how to deal with a notice of intended prosecution.