I have heard that the magistrates sometimes do not endorse your licence with penalty points even though they would normally have to. Is this correct, and how do they decide whether to endorse or not?
Magistrates can decide not to endorse a licence for a motoring offence, but only if they are persuaded that special reasons exist. This is slightly technical, but it’s not simply a question of whether they are feeling generous: the “special reasons” must satisfy four criteria. There must be an extenuating circumstance which does not amount in law to a defence to the charge and which must be directly connected with the commission of the offence. And the reason must be something which the Court “ought properly to take into consideration” when imposing sentence.