Belief - the supposed foundation for a PCN.

 

The motorist in this case wrote his own representation with help from experts on FTLA 

In order to issue a PCN an enforcement authority, such as Redbridge Council, must have a belief that a contravention has occurred. The way it works these days is that a computer watches the traffic and when it thinks it has spotted a contravention it extracts a short clip and saves it for a human being to check and then authorise a PCN. Much of the time Mr Mustard thinks that either the operative doesn't pay attention or blindly presses yes or assumes the computer is correct (a dangerous assumption as the Post Office Horizon Inquiry has shown us).

Mr Mustard thinks there is an inbuilt belief amongst back office PCN processing staff that because a PCN has been issued it must be correct and defended at all cost.

Here is the position at the moment which the car entered the box:

There is room to exit.

Here is the position on stopping:

Needless to say Redbridge Council rejected a perfectly good representation as 90% of the time, especially when the discount is offered again, the motorist caves in and pays because of a combination of ignorance, worry about having to pay the full penalty and an assumption that councils tell the truth (they are serial liars).

This is the relevant part of the Notice of Rejection.

Mr Mustard's comments. Careful consideration would have led to a cancellation. This is a standard line in the template. Careless consideration would be more accurate.

The exit was clear on entering so this was another standard paragraph.

Mitigation cannot have been considered as none was pleaded. 'Comments' waters down the value of the words of the motorist who made a representation not mere remarks.

The writer may well be satisfied but who knows how easily they are satisfied in their own cause?

They were also confident that the PCN was valid.

Mr Mustard took over at this point and he was confident he could get the PCN cancelled. Who was over-confident? (yes, you know the answer).

This is what he wrote in the Grounds of Appeal (you have the images above).

Grounds of Appeal - no contravention

This is the position as the car enters the box. There is clearly room for the car to exit (as can be judged by the white car in the other lane). Thus the first part of the contravention, on entering, is not made out.

The position on stopping is as follows:

The blue car had moved further away so there was even more room to exit. The driver simply chose not to, it was not due to a stationary vehicle in front.

All of a sudden Redbridge Council were less confident of their case. They left it late but 5 days before the hearing they told the tribunal that they would not contest the Appeal and they had cancelled the PCN. 

Why would they do that if they were correct in issuing the PCN and rejecting the formal representations? It is because it is a big and generally profitable game of Bluff. It is a game which Mr Mustard is happy to play all day long. Mr Mustard decides at the outset if there is a good case or not and 90% of the time he is correct.

Don't be bluffed into paying out. Work out your defence and stand your ground. Don't be diverted by talk of a discount. Why would you want to pay a 50% penalty for being innocent?

Remember you can get a free second opinion about your chances from numerous experts here, which sometimes includes Mr Mustard.

The end.