Summons for Speeding in Ireland!?

Question

Hi there,
I was issued two speeding tickets(which i never knew off till today @7thMarch2007) for last year (May & June). All correspondence were sent to my old address where i used to live around 13 months ago. During the time of speeding offence i was never at the address and all i did go to local motor tax office to get me address changed. And all motortax receipts were sent to new(i.e. current address).
My questions now is :
a) since i was not aware of these tickets at all and even the summons went to old address, what shall i do? What options are left for me?
i) go to court and plead (then probably get big fine and points)
ii) go to court with proof that i was not at that old address?
iii) go hire a solicitor and settle through a solicitor?
And help and input will be very much appreciated. I have never been to court and pretty gobsmacked by this one. Any guidance will be more than welcome.

Kind regards
A Friend(living in Ireland)

Thanks Paddy for the input,
As you mentioned should hire a solicitor,we dun mind doing that. There are two summons in two different courts :
- do i need two solicitors
- and can i address both of them in same sitting?

Never been to a court in me life so what is the best course am not sure off. Can u please guide?

Kind regards
A Friend

Boomedley, Thanx for ur response. we are not declining the fact . my point here is that we have notified all for adress change. We renewed the motor tax in april last yr with the new address and this happen in september and summon was issued only in January this yr. We only got the court order through a local gaurd last nite. My question is if he could find her new address to pass the court order why couldn;t they post the summon to the rite place? Plus isn;t there suppose to be register post to say that the offender had accepted n received the summon at such n such address n date...etc....???? by law if the summon only reaches the offender after 6 mths of date of summon being issued , its void. In my case its over 7 mths.

Answer 1

go to court and bring proof that you werent at the address.good luck

Answer 2

You will need a solicitor to act on your behalf or at the very least get the advice of one before you go to court. Bring proof of address. But the bottom line is, you are at fault on several counts. You must notify the motor tax office of a change of address for a motor car. It is an offence not to. Secondly, you were speeding so regardless you will incur the points. Thirdly you may be fined for not paying the fine on time though you have a reason for that. Get that solicitor and dont do what the first person wrote and ignore it, it will not go away. Good luck.

Answer 3

1st of all you should hire a district court solicitor,thats the 1st thing.Image is important when dealing with the courts and it show a seriousness and a respectfullness for you and them when u have a solicitor doing the talking for you.especially when they are in the wrong and you want to prove a point.'you mean business',they don't cost a bomb or anything,and they are usually flexible with payment.also ask around see does anyone know the name of a good solicitor that sits in the district court you have to appear. District courts have the same solicitors every week depending on what area the court is in,so lets say dun laoghaire would have a few with offices in the locality that sevice that court,you get it.,and they don't cost loads like the other ones.Tell your solicitor your case and give him all your proof of being at the wrong address, a few references to show your of good character and you'll go along on the day,and in most cases the solicitor will ask for the case to be thrown out, and you should be let off completely because you weren't warned at the earlier stages, now your solicitor won't guarantee this but the chances of being let off are huge.you may have to appear more than once ,probably 3times max,as these things sometimes get delayed,the guard may not turn up or he may ask cos they may hav forgot something or whatever,they may have everything and you just have to go once, just ensure your there,my best advice is go with the solicitor,and you'll have a great chance of avoiding penalty points altogether,best of luck,you may get off on a technicality,

Answer 4

you should pay your fine you were speeding but i would question anything else they add as you gave your new adress and it was there error

Answer 5

Tough.

Don't speed.

It kills and ruins lives.

Just take your medicine and learn.

Answer 6

just ignore it....