Admonished in Aberdeen Special Reasons Upheld

This matter was heard at Aberdeen Justice of the Peace Court on 20 September 2018. The charge of driving without insurance carries a minimum endorsement of six penalty points and a disqualification under the totting-up provisions loomed large for our client in the event of conviction.

The case involved a rather convoluted story involving a car swap gone wrong. The essence of the special reason advanced was essentially that our client was entitled to rely upon his wife’s assertion that insurance cover remained in force whilst arrangements were made for the vehicle to be scrapped. It was clear that our client had no reason to think the insurance had been cancelled and he was driving with a genuine and reasonable belief that cover remained in force.

The Crown broadly agreed the position and, as a consequence, our client was simply admonished in respect of the charge and the court refrained from imposing penalty points on our client’s driving licence.