I was expecting a slap on the wrist, three points for speeding, a fine and to be sent on my way. Unfortunately, the prosecutor had other ideas and told the court that because I had nine points on my licence at the time of the offence, they should disqualify me, ie, nine plus three equals the dreaded 12 points.

I tried to argue she was wrong, and magistrates asked me to move on and tell them about anything that may stop me getting disqualified. Someone mentioned something about ‘exceptional hardship’ arguments. I told the court that if I lost my licence I couldn’t get to work, and I would be unable to take my 17-year-old daughter to college, which is about a mile and a half away. But one magistrate knew where I lived, where I had to go to work, and said I could get the train, they even knew the cost. As for my daughter, they said she could walk or cycle to college.

And with that, I was disqualified for six months and ordered to pay £400.

I think the court got it fundamentally wrong for two reasons. Firstly, I did not have nine points on my licence when I was convicted; secondly, even if I am wrong regarding that, I think the court should have found ‘exceptional hardship’ in my case as it’s going to cost me more money to get to work and take longer.

I am thinking of appealing. Can I?

Answer

IF you intend to take the matter further, you can appeal to the crown court. An appeal in this manner is a total re-hearing, which would be at the crown court before a judge and usually two lay magistrates. The lay magistrates would not have been involved in any way with the original case.

If you wish to appeal to the crown court, the appeal must be lodged no later than 15 working days from the date of sentence. The appeal in your case could be against sentence, and you would be attempting to effectively make out ‘exceptional hardship’ arguments on a ‘second go’ at court. However, while you may have a right to appeal, I am afraid it will unlikely be successful for the reasons I will detail.

Firstly, the prosecutor and court were right insofar as your ‘active points’ were concerned, ie, you had nine at the time of the alleged offence. The fact three dropped off later is irrelevant for the purposes of a ‘totting disqualification’, it is the number of points ‘active’ at the time of the speeding offence, not at the time of sentencing.

As a point of note, if the licence is endorsed with 12 or more penalty points you could be liable to receive a penalty points disqualification of not less than six months. As you are aware, this is exactly what happened to you at the recent hearing. The only way to avoid this is to make an ‘exceptional hardship’ argument. To be successful, evidence must be provided that proves a driving disqualification would result in an ‘exceptional hardship’ for the rider/driver and/or those they are responsible for.

To give you a practical example, if you had a disabled child who was heavily dependent on your ability to drive them to school/medical appointments then the court would likely find there would be an exceptional hardship for your child if you were disqualified from riding/driving.

I am afraid that it being inconvenient for you to get to work is not enough; nor is being unable to take your teenage daughter to a college that is located nearby.

My advice is do not appeal, take it on the chin, and get your clean licence back in six months (all the points will be ‘wiped’ off it).

Andrew Prendergast

RiDE – February 2026