Warwickshire Police is warning those who receive speeding tickets to deal with them honestly or face the consequences after a 25 year old woman from Slough attempted to avoid two speeding tickets from fixed cameras by paying someone to provide false and misleading information about who was driving.

Warwickshire Road Safety Unit (WRSU) who process speeding tickets in the county rejected her driver nominations after enquiries could not verify the existence of the ‘drivers’.

The defendant was given a chance to provide the correct details but never replied to correspondence.

When the case was sent to Court she entered the defence that she had provided driver details and didn’t know why the Police were prosecuting her.

However when the case was heard at Coventry Magistrates’ Court on 10 June 2024, the prosecutor branded the evidence gathered “exceptional” which included a comparison of the two ‘driver’s’ handwriting.

Despite the defendant having legal counsel, the Prosecutor asserted the weight of the evidence was stacked against her and the defendant eventually conceded and pleaded guilty to Failing to Identify the Driver when required.

Her eventual guilty plea was taken into consideration and she was fined £810, and received 6 points on her licence.  She was also ordered to pay £250 costs and a £324 victim surcharge.

Speaking after the case, Senior Caseworker Crystal Moore said:

“We are justifiably proud of our strong team of Caseworkers who are determined to bring even the most difficult cases to justice by offering appropriate disposals proportionate to the offence committed.  This includes out of court disposals such as Driver Retraining Courses or Conditional Offers which are entirely at the discretion of the WRSU.

“This particular defendant would have been eligible for a Driver Retraining Course for one offence and a Conditional Offer for the other costing her approximately £190 and 3 penalty points on her driving licence. Instead she has potentially paid someone an unknown amount to ‘deal with’ her tickets, paid an unknown amount in legal counsel, and paid almost £1400 in Court costs, fines and charges and been given 6 penalty points.

“Our message to drivers is if you speed in Warwickshire, expect to face the consequences.   Please respond promptly and honestly to our correspondence and where eligible we will always choose to educate you as to why speeding is dangerous and unacceptable, rather than fine you or send you to Court. If you believe you have mitigating circumstances then contact us at the earliest opportunity.”