Hi, need some advice urgently.

Was pulled over by a cop at the museum hill roundabout who claimed I had ignored a 'no exit' sign. Fair enough, but the sign was blocked by a parked truck.

He got in my car and told me to drive to Parklands Station. Once there, he said he can 'appear on my behalf' in court and pay the fine for me, but there would be no receipt. I refused and got charged with 1)Obstruction 2) Failing to conform with traffic sign. I have to appear tomorrow at 0830 in the High Court.

I plan on pleading guilty - do I need someone with me to pay the fine or can I do it on my own? How much is the fine likely to be?

Many thanks for help/advice!

Go with someone and let them carry the cash, ukipelekwa holding cell na pesa my friend! Cops plant thieves there and they rob you as 'they wait' for fine to be paid. I lost a lot of money once in a similar process.

That exit from Westlands Road to join the museum hill round about is a cash cow for the Parklands police. The sign is not visible unless you are actively searching for it - that's a huge plus for them! The other thing is that the cops make sure they stand somewhere you can't see them. Just when you are about to join the road to the round about, they pop up from nowhere. Obviously you don't react because you have done 'nothing wrong' - most people actually argue with the cops till they are taken back to see the sign. What makes matters worse is that the 'exit' looks so inviting. It's like it was designed to primarily exit onto the museum hill round about.

Anyway, when you are arrested, they normally take your driving license and tell you to go wait for them at Parklands police station. When they arrive, you and your fellow 'exiters' have to cough up between 500/= and 1000/= - or more - depending on your gullibility. I am reliably informed that some of them tell their wives "Wekelea maji ya ugali nafika hapa museum hill naja. Nitakuja na unga!"

i once spent six monrths fighting against similar charges in the high court. the case file kept poping up in the wrong court. imagine spending the day in court no 1 while your file was taken to city hall court. twice my cash bail was cancelled for non appearance. twice the 'sympathetic' court clerk would lead me to the magistrtes chambers so as to cancell an arrest warrant that had been issued a few hours early. each time, i gratefully coughed up something small for the assistance. come hearing day, i was clever enough to to check with the registry, only to learn tht my case came up for hearing the previous day. a warrant of arrest had been issued. as the clerk was busy preparing to milk me again, i slipped away not caring about the misserly cash bail i had paid.
my advise
1). if you decide to appear, make sure that you have some 15k in your pocket to pay a fine, or post a cash bail.the cashier will come into the court room towards the end of the court session to collect the fine/cash bails. incase you miss to pay at that time, you will be led to the basement cells. this is when you need outside help to pay for you.
2)you could decide not to show up in court if you have not posted any bail. a warrant will be issued, but it is only limitted to the jurisdiction of that particular police station. if you could manage to lie low for 1 week well, the cop will already be rushuffled and the new cop will not have a copy of the previous events.

Been caught at the same place when I took my jalopy for insurance valuation by Regent Assessors at the Casino. Did the most dishonourable thing - paid my 'fine' on the spot.