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Tuesday, 30 October 2018

TO BE OR NOT TO BE A TOTTER

I was retired from the bench three and a half years ago and many fundamentals at court have changed since then, some for the better but more for the worse. One aspect of sentencing which was made very clear to my bench more than once was that in the case of motoring offences where the option available was to immediately  disqualify or issue penalty points resulting in an offender being a totter and thus receiving a mandatory six months ban the correct and appropriate procedure was to issue the requisite points and let justice take its course in the immediate disqualification of the miscreant.  I am unaware if this process was advised for my bench only or was laid down nationally.  Not surprisingly I am unaware of current advice given to magistrates. It would appear that at Norwich Magistrates Court discretion was used contrary to the aforementioned advice when I was active.  Perhaps a current court worker could clarify the situation?

 PS The court reporter appears to forgotten how to add up.  8 penalty points as reported plus an additional 3 would not have reached the threshold for disqualification which is 12. Notwithstanding the error my post does pose a reasonable question. 
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3 comments:

  1. ObiterJ31 October 2018 at 09:26

    I think that the following provide the answer:

    https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/explanatory-material/item/road-traffic-offences-disqualification/4-discretionary-disqualification/

    In some cases in which the court is considering discretionary disqualification, the offender may already have sufficient penalty points on his or her licence that he or she would be liable to a ‘totting up’ disqualification if further points were imposed. In these circumstances, the court should impose penalty points rather than discretionary disqualification so that the minimum totting up disqualification period applies

    https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/explanatory-material/item/road-traffic-offences-disqualification/3-totting-up-disqualification/

    Totting up disqualifications, unlike other disqualifications, erase all penalty points.

    I think you are the only blogger left now dealing principally with the Magistrates' Courts. Bystander passed away in 2017 and he conducted an excellent blog over many years albeit with a London emphasis. His blog seemed to tail off after a Presiding Judge played a heavy hand about JPs commenting.

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  2. ObiterJ31 October 2018 at 09:29

    It would seem to follow that the man at Norwich ended up with his short disqualification and will not have to reapply for his licence. However, he still retains the 11 points.

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    Replies
    1. The Justice of the Peace31 October 2018 at 11:27

      Thank you for your comments. Having begun this blog in 2009 on another site and migrating here in 2013 at no time did I knowingly post anything which could have identified me or my bench. On the other hand Bystander`s identity was widely known. His early death was indeed a loss to all interested in the daily functioning of magistrates courts.

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