Special Reasons

[Helpme2016]

I am due in court in 2 weeks on charge for drink driving. I blew 136 in 100 ml of breath.
I was found in my car, the car was stationary, with the engine off and parking light on less than 100 yards from where I was staying, around 10pm.
This was only my 3rd night working away from home and I absolutely hated it. I was so desperate to be back home with my family that I got in the car. I see the alcohol reading will likely lead to a custodial sentence, I made an alcohol driven decision and clearly realised what I was doing within 100 yards and pulled the car over. Does any of this lead to a 'special reason' that will mean I don't go to prison. The car was fully legal and I have never committed a crime.

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

If this is your first offence then it is far from certain that a custodial sentence will be imposed, although I would strongly advise that you obtain representation to minimise the possibility of this happening.

Technically your circumstances are capable of amounting to special reasons on the basis that you only drove a very short distance. However, there are numerous other factors that are also taken into consideration and I believe that some of these are likely to present some difficulties. The primary issue is whether a sober friend would have advised you to act as you did. If the answer is no then the Court are likely to reject a special reasons plea as your reason for driving would be deemed insufficient.

The other option available to you is to present a plea of mitigation to the Court and try to minimise the sentence in this way. For a first offence with a reading of 136 in breath the sentencing guidelines advise the imposition of a 29-36 month disqualification and either a high level community order or a custodial sentence of up to 6 months. The first point to note is that if you plead guilty at the first hearing then any community order/custodial sentence is reduced by 33%. Secondly even if you are sentenced to custody, the Court have the option to suspend this sentence. E.g. you could be sentenced to a 12 week custodial sentence, suspended for 12 months. If you then committed no further offences within those 12 months the custodial sentence should not come into effect.

Because you are at risk of custody with this offence it may be that you are eligible to be represented under legal aid funding, depending upon your financial circumstances. If you are interested in discussing the possibility of representation you are welcome to contact my department on 0333 999 7158.