My name is spelt incorrectly on a Notice of Intended Prosecution. My name is Stephen and it is spelt Steven on the Notice. Is it valid? Can I ignore/reject it as being invalid? Can the Police still proceed with a prosecution?

If you ignore the Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) the Police will issue a Summons for failing to identify. At Court, the Magistrates will consider whether you genuinely believed that the Notice was intended for another party and if so, what action you took to return the Notice on that basis. If the Magistrates take the view that you are attempting to use a typing error as a technical defence, you will probably be convicted for failing to identify which will result in 6 penalty points.

The Police inevitably use information that is supplied by the DVLA and if that information is incorrect, the Police will not be criticised for being unaware of an error. Likewise, the Police will always have the option to amend clerical errors at Court. In most circumstances, it is obvious who the Notice is for and you should therefore provide the information requested in order to avoid prosecution for a more serious offence.