It’s ok, I can get someone to take my points…

Well, I would suggest a pause for thought. Did you know that the offence of Perverting the Course of Justice (POCJ) can be committed after the Police issue a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP), following an allegation of a minor motoring offence such as speeding?

POCJ is an offence that can only be dealt with in the Crown Court and carries a maximum of life imprisonment. It is an offence that usually carries an immediate prison sentence, even for individuals of good character who have never been convicted of an offence in their lives. Someone like you wouldn’t commit an offence that serious would you?

When a vehicle is suspected to have been involved in the commission of a driving offence, the police will send a NIP to the registered keeper of the vehicle. If the registered keeper fails to respond within 28 days they will be prosecuted under S172 of the Road Traffic Act for failing to identify the relevant driver. This is an offence that carries six points or a discretionary ban and a fine, court costs and a Victim Surcharge.

If the driver of the vehicle faces a “totting up” disqualification, revocation of his licence as a new driver, or simply cannot afford more points for employment or financial reasons, for some, the temptation is sometimes strong to ask someone else (friend, partner, spouse etc) to “take the points”, in this situation you are both committing the offence of perverting the course of justice.

Famously such a scheme backfired spectacularly on former Government minister Chris Huhne and his wife, who both received an eight month prison sentence.

More recently, there was a well publicised case where an aspiring young woman in the UK was found guilty of paying another to take points for a speeding offence. The lady in question wanted to keep her driving licence clean and had no previous driving convictions. Even when given the opportunity by the court to confess to the crime after suspicions arose – she remained adamant that it was not her driving the vehicle. She was found guilty and received 3 months imprisonment, 56 week driving ban and a career in tatters.

Our advice would be to not run the risk. Yes the reality is that you may well get away with it. The camera that detected the driving offence usually only shows the rear of the vehicle and doesn’t show who was driving. But what if you are one of the unlucky ones caught out in some unexpected way? Ask yourself, are you willing to gamble on this and that there will be no unforeseen circumstances that will foil your perfect plan? The real questions I suggest you ask yourself are whether you prepared to go to prison if the gamble doesn’t pay off? All for the sake of your driving licence?

So if you do decide to get someone to take the points for your driving offence (and I would strongly advise against it), hopefully you are now going into it with your eyes open, content with the risk, however slight, that you could end up behind bars at Her Majesties’ pleasure. If however, you value your good name and liberty but your driving licence is vital, there are legitimate arguments that can be made at court to avoid losing it, without having to commit a criminal offence and to serve a lengthy prison sentence as well...