A driver was fined just under £40,000 after forgetting to tax his car. A magistrate handed out the five-figure fine in a court hearing conducted in private, with road users across the country now being warned.
Earlier this month, Sam Fisher, aged 30, faced prosecution from the DVLA over £50 of tax which had gone unpaid on his Range Rover. The case was heard in private under the Single Justice Procedure, and the judgement rendered was that Mr Fisher has to pay out an eye-watering £39,769 as penalty for this oversight.
Court documents disclosed that Mr Fisher’s vehicle was identified parked on a street close to his residence in Barnes, south-west London, in August at a time when the vehicle’s annual tax had yet to be paid. “I appreciate I probably should have been more involved in educating myself,” he admitted to the court.
“I have learnt that these things need to be properly checked and not just assumed.”
According to Fisher, a notice concerning the outstanding tax landed on August 21, and he settled it at the Post Office the next morning. Consequently, the Range Rover was recorded as legally taxed starting from August 1, reports Birmingham Live.
“Apologies for causing some trouble for you, but it was a genuine mistake and I didn’t receive any communications before this point,” he expressed remorsefully. He also highlighted his career concerns: “As I work in the financial markets, any CCJ (County Court Judgment) or conviction for non-payments of fine would most likely cause large effects on my career.
“Ironically, I also have aspirations to join the police and/or the magistrate service when I retire, and I am unsure of the ramifications that a permanent conviction would have on those aspirations. Forgive my ignorance if that is an irrelevant thing to say, but consulting legal advice would likely cost more than the fine I would receive.”
The DVLA disclosed on Wednesday that its staff had noticed the exceptionally steep fine and identified it as exceeding the maximum permitted penalty. The authority has submitted a request to the court for the case to be reopened, allowing the sentence to be reassessed.