Unlimited Fines Mean Unlimited Fines!
Some people may have been surprised by the £86,000 fine that Ant McPartlin received for drink driving. Level 5 fines are now unlimited for cases committed after the 13th March 2015. Defendants are sentenced according to their means which must be declared to the Magistrates on a form or, in the case of companies by reference to their most recent accounts. Many of the offences committed by HGV and PSV operators are level 5 fines, examples include overloading, operating without a licence and certain tachograph offences. These can and, more recently have, lead to fines of many tens of thousands of pounds in fines.
If your company is unlucky enough to receive a Single Justice Procedure Notice you would be well advised to contact a lawyer before responding to it in order that you can be properly advised as to the best way forward.
At Smith Bowyer Clarke our solicitors and barristers are specialists in Road Transport Law and we have extensive experience assisting operators and drivers in the Magistrates’ Court enabling them to leave with the best possible result.
