Legal advice needed

[HDT_aero]

Ok guys i got the mother of all goverment bs fines today.

it all started when some pr*ck let my two dogs out and broke my gate in the process (as it was locked). Now we got the dogs back payed the rego fee's etc fixed the gate and all is fine.

now two weeks later we get two $80 fines for our dogs roaming the street!! Now i thaught thats unfair and my partner rang the councel and explained what had happened. the lady on the phone then proceded to tell us that it was not our fault and we had to write a letter explaining what had hapened to the court or somthing... anyway thats exactly what we did.

its now been 4 months and we now have recieved a $270 fine for each dog and says if i dont pay they will take my licence away now ive lost my licence (for good reason) 4 times before and im not loosing it again over somthing as pethetic as this but why should i pay now over $500 for this cr@p.

what should i do?? the fines say i can dispute it by writing yet another letter and getting a JP to sign and then following it through to court...

som1 please help me before i go insane and my head explodes..

Adam

[davey g-force]

Sh!t ay?!

Maybe you should post this in the "Ask the Copper" thread. There's two cops there who regularly answer questions....

[HDT_aero]

thanks will do well will link it anyway

[Stretcher Bearer]

Find a legal aid centre for starters.

Secondly most lawyers provide a free consult/ first visit.

Alocal council would normally have no rights on a drivers licence.

[ucwepn]

Yeah definately fight it and then ring "A current affair" they love these stories and hate the way Councils are greedy f#ckers.
GL with it aye.

[pro_gmh]

Heres my advice.

I reckon arange a payment plan to pay of your fines. The council dont really have to care if it was an accident, they just see it as the dogs were your responsability and they got out (how they got out doesnt matter).

You should be able to argue the fine, and say somthing like due to vandalisim or somthing the dogs escaped when otherwise they are in a secure yard with responsable owners. BUT, if you did this, they may ask why u didnt report the vandlisim to the police etc.

But good luck anyway, and let us know of the outcome.

[Matty081]

might have to just cop it sweet mate
I had a neighbour who kept letting my boxer/staffy out just so he could call the ranger and get it picked up.
originally I was working on my car with my dog next to me, his dog came sniffing over and started a fight. was all on after that. he even rang the ranger and accused my dog of being out when it was 200km's away with me. go figure.
Ranger ended up just ignoring his calls.
still can't figure out why he reckoned it was a pitbull though looks nothing like one.
Mugshot.

[HDT_aero]

lol your neighbour must be a tool

[Just_Ice]

Police have nothing to do with this kind of thing, so theres no point putting it in the Ask the Copper thread.....

A local Council fine can actually suspend your licence if not paid (In WA I am talking, not sure about anywhere else).....

One has to ask though, how did it blow out to $270 from $80, is that because you didn't pay it and they added court costs..... Probably should have paid the $80 each and be done with it......

Like stated though, you would have a good case to answer if you had reported the damage to Police at the time, you could have taken the report to court with you and proved it......

You now have to weigh up is it worth going to court and If I lose, am I going to have to pay a whole lot of court costs..............

The other question I have though is why if you wrote in a letter, did they not put the Infringement on hold until the matter was sorted out....... I honestly would be going down the line of arguing that it should have been put on hold whilst your letter was looked at and try get your fine back to the original $80 and pay that off........

[davey g-force]

Police have nothing to do with this kind of thing, so theres no point putting it in the Ask the Copper thread.....

Yeah, maybe not, but i think the Cop might have a better idea than you or I (or HDT_aero)...

Helly (or Pacey??) actually answered it quite well in the Ask The Copper thread if you wanna have a look...

[Just_Ice]

its going to be different though from state to state....... Doesn't really matter what any copper says, Including me, he really needs to seek legal advice from someone who deals with those issues....