Geoffrey Miller Solicitors

Case Studies

Steve O'Brien - Managing Director, Gameshop Ltd

I'd like to take the time to thank you for all of your efforts in handling my court case. Your bredth of knowledge in this field has proven invaluable in retaining my license, without which my life and the lives of my family would have been turned upside down. For that I am eternally grateful and wouldn't hesitate at recommending you to colleagues should they find themselves in any similar situation.

I think it would be remiss of me not to highlight Mr Maloney's handling of my plea and his selection of which route to go down has left me in no doubt that it was the very best course of action, yielding the best results for my particular case. I'd also like to thank Miss Gillian Evans who remained a calming voice of reason from my very first call to Geoffrey Miller through to the day before my case.

You leave me with no doubt what so ever that you are the leading experts in this field.

Nigel Ian Barrell- Education Advisor- South England (Hampshire & Sussex)

Mr Barrell, a Schools Adviser had received a Notice of Intended Prosecution for driving at 37mph in a 30mph limit. As he already had 9 valid points on his licence he was facing a possible minimum ban of 6 months under the “totting up” provisions.

Mr Barrell’s job involved travelling to 14 schools to advise on important issues such as child protection, social care and education. He was required to attend at schools on short notice where immediate advice and assistance was required. He also had elderly parents who relied on him to assist them and respond to them in an emergency situation.

The court found that exceptional hardship would be caused if he were banned from driving. His licence was endorsed with 3 points and he was fined £60 but he was allowed to continue to drive with 12 points on his licence.

DP Atkins-Chief Executive

Mr Atkins faced an allegation of failing to stop and failing to report an accident, which carries a penalty of between 5 – 10 points and a fine. The Magistrates also have the discretion to impose a period of disqualification for the offence alone. Mr Atkins decided to plead guilty and appeared before the Magistrates at Newbury Magistrates’ Court. At the time, Mr Atkins had 6 points on his licence. Had he received a further 6 points or more, he would have been facing the possibility of a 6 month disqualification from driving under the ‘totting up’ provisions. Mr Atkins intended to plead exceptional hardship in an attempt to persuade the Magistrates to exercise their discretion and allow him to continue to drive as he is a self employed company director and his driving licence is crucial to the day to day running of his business. The loss of his licence would have had a devastating effect on his business partner and his employees.

We were instructed to enter mitigation on behalf of Mr Atkins in an attempt to keep the penalty to an absolute minimum. The Court ordered that Mr Atkins should pay prosecution costs of £35.00, a fine of £190.00 and 5 points be endorsed on his Driving Licence. This left Mr Atkins with 11 points endorsed on his driving licence.

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