Aussie woman’s shock after she discovered $1,700 fine waiting in mail when she returned from overseas trip
An Australian mother has been left stunned after being fined $1,715 when she returned home from an overseas trip.
The woman found a notice from Service NSW asking her to pay an overdue fine by October 9 for her failure to attend jury duty for a court case in Sydney in May.
But the woman claimed she had no idea she had been summoned.
‘I did not receive this on the due date of October 9th. However, I also never saw the jury notice for May 28, nor any other communications since then,” she wrote on social media.
“So I’m in total and absolute shock.”
She asked other local mothers how she could “abolish” the fine.
The woman added that she had not changed her address in decades and that she checked her mail every day.
‘The only email I have received regarding this matter is this fine enforcement notice when returning from abroad. It’s very strange. How can I prove that I never received the original notice?’
A woman was warned for a hefty fine when she returned to Australia from abroad
Other Sydneysiders said they had unknowingly made the same mistake before.
One mother even said she never knew she owed money until she went to pay a separate bill on the Service NSW website, it was reported Yahoo News.
“I had never received or seen any notice regarding jury duty or the associated fine,” she claimed.
Other mothers said Service NSW had been sympathetic to them in similar circumstances and urged the woman to call the department.
‘This happened to me a few months ago. You just call them and explain what happened. They are very understanding,” she said.
‘This has happened to me in the past. “I was not traveling and was at the same address but simply did not receive the call to serve jury duty,” said another.
“So I just wrote to them to explain why I wasn’t there. They waived my fine.”
Another said she simply never received a notice to serve jury duty before a fine arrived in the mail.
The woman feared she would be fined for not attending a jury summons she never received (stock image)
‘I just wrote to them to explain why I wouldn’t be attending. They waived my fine,” she said.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Service NSW for comment.
Fines for failing to attend mandatory jury duty in New South Wales can be as high as $2,200, if a person’s reason for doing so is denied by Service NSW.
However, recipients can escalate the disagreement to a magistrate in a local court.
Fines can be revised on a number of grounds.
If the recipient did attend the service, has not received previous notices from the NSW Sheriff’s Office or has a legitimate reason for not attending, the fine may be reviewed.