DRINK DRIVING / EXCESS ALCOHOL You may feel that your situation is hopeless, because you did drive a car and the specimen you provided was well over the limit, so the only thing to do is plead guilty. But the law is not as simple as that. As the police have been given extraordinary powers in drink driving cases the High Court has ruled that they must comply absolutely correctly with the procedure set out in the Road Traffic Act for the taking of the samples of breath, blood and urine. That means that as Parliament has said that things must be done and said in a specific order, and in a specific way, if the police do not do them in the way they are told to do, the result of the breath blood or urine specimen provided cannot be considered by the Magistrates. That in turn means that a not guilty verdict must follow.
Our experience is that in between 20% and 25% of cases on which we advise there has been a breach of the statutory procedure. Not all police officers are as well trained as they should be and bad mistakes are made quite regularly. We find that in about 80% of cases where we advise a not guilty plea, either the prosecution discontinues the case before it even goes to trial or the Magistrates dismiss it at trial.
That is not all. There are cases where people consume alcohol after they have ceased driving, and before the police administer the breath test. There may be a good defence on that basis. You may have been charged not with driving, but being "in charge of a vehicle" whilst over the limit. You may be able to take advantage of a specific defence in the Road Traffic Act if that is the charge you face. In order to be convicted, the prosecution must prove that you were on a road or in a public place. We can advise you on the highly technical law about that.
Even if we have to advise you to plead guilty, you may be able to argue that there are "special reasons" why you should not be disqualified. Again, we can advise you as to whether you may be able to put that argument forward.
The only way to find out whether you may be able to avoid being convicted, or to keep your licence even if you do plead guilty, is to ask us to obtain the case papers from the prosecution in order that we can review them and advise you as soon as possible. Your case may well turn out to be one where the police have got things wrong. We will give you a detailed written advice, and an honest assessment of your chances of success. That advice will come from a lawyer with 40 years specialist involvement in drink driving law.
Please, do not just give up and accept what you may think is inevitable. It may not be. For many people, the consequences of disqualification are appalling. Surely it is worth at least finding out whether the prosecution actually does have a case against you before entering a guilty plea? Of course there will be costs to pay, but we suggest you weigh those against the financial consequences of disqualification before making up your mind what to do.
Mandatory disqualification: at least 12 months. Suggested fine: 150% weekly net income. Mandatory disqualification of a minimum of 36 months for a further alcohol related offence.
Click the image above to download a .pdf detailing Recommended Sentencing Guidelines for Drink Driving as laid down in the Road Traffic Act effective from the 4th August 2008.
