Drago
New Member
Hi,
Thought I'd share because there's a lot of questions that I had that were never answered.
I crashed on my way home late on night, I lived 200 yards away from the crash site so got in and hammered 3 exports into me to calm down. Might sound silly but this worked to my advantage.
I had an amount of alcohol prior to getting in the car and by reckoning although I didn't feel over the limit, I must have been.
Police knocked at the door as the incident had been reported by a passing car - I was polite, curtious and respectful at all times with them. I never swore, I was calm and explained what happened.
They tried to get me to admit that I was lying and asked a lot of what appear to be harmless questions. Keep quiet. I simply stated the facts and never entered into conversation. Yes & No's are best at this point.
I explained I had drank after crashing and within a few minutes of them coming to the door, this bought me 20 minutes before the breathalyser...
When breathalysed at home I was giving a 94mg - 3 times over the limit...bad
So off we went to the police station and about 1 hour after the initial test I blew a 74 at the station.
We went through what I ate and drank and then I was locked up until the following day.
I was interviewed and bailed on suspicion of driving while over the prescribed limit.
At this point I rang around a bit and was told I shouldn't have admitted to driving by every drink drive specialist solicitor going...seems dodgey to me but each to their own, but they would all take the case...prices ranged from £600 - £5500 - sharks.
Answered bail where I was charged as the Police had done a BAC calculation based on my statement and claimed post alcohol consumption which provided enough evidence to prosecute.
The BAC calculation is something you can do yourself in all honesty and get a good idea of what its going to come out at and what's feasible to argue - its no going to sand in court but if the figures look good you can commission one for £200-£400 and the author will appear in court too. When I did my own I was missing a good 40mg based on my statement...not looking good. But, it did indicate at the time of driving I would have been around the 45 mark, a damn site better than 74! this potentially meant although I was unlikely to get a slap on the wrist or acquitted, I would be in the lowest band for prosecution and looking at 12-16 month ban, not 17-22 and a huge fine.
I opted for the defend myself or take my chance with a duty solicitor option so went to court - dress well people, it makes all the difference trakkies are asking for a slap.
The duty solicitor was really helpful and advised me that a guilty plea would be best as I thought it would and asked me how it would effect my life if I lose my license. She also had a copy of the prosecution files which I was allowed to look over and as I calculated I was calculated to be 42mg at the time of driving with a range of 29-54 - a really good expensive solicitor might argue an acquittal at that, but I didn't have an endless pot of money.
She hammed it up, argued the magistrate away from 74 and down to 42 and with a quick "please accept my apologies" statement from me and little else, I was given a 14 month ban, offered the awareness course which drops me down to just under a year and a £300 fine. Plus court costs and victim surcharge it came to £415. Less than ideal but a lot better than if I had gone in blind or tried to argue a not guilty plea.
It was commented that it would have been 12 month if I hadn't crashed and had I not been so co-operative at all stages it would have been longer.
Court was about 10 mins in length and not as bad as imagined.
Best way to avoid this sh!t..dont get behind the wheel after any drinking at all. Getting caught once is bad, twice and you really are knackered. I could have killed someone, I could still lose my job, I will be in the paper, I've had to move closer to work at great expense....nobody needs it in their life. And you dont want to kill yourself, or explain to someones family why you got in he ar and killed someone they love.
Thought I'd share because there's a lot of questions that I had that were never answered.
I crashed on my way home late on night, I lived 200 yards away from the crash site so got in and hammered 3 exports into me to calm down. Might sound silly but this worked to my advantage.
I had an amount of alcohol prior to getting in the car and by reckoning although I didn't feel over the limit, I must have been.
Police knocked at the door as the incident had been reported by a passing car - I was polite, curtious and respectful at all times with them. I never swore, I was calm and explained what happened.
They tried to get me to admit that I was lying and asked a lot of what appear to be harmless questions. Keep quiet. I simply stated the facts and never entered into conversation. Yes & No's are best at this point.
I explained I had drank after crashing and within a few minutes of them coming to the door, this bought me 20 minutes before the breathalyser...
When breathalysed at home I was giving a 94mg - 3 times over the limit...bad
So off we went to the police station and about 1 hour after the initial test I blew a 74 at the station.
We went through what I ate and drank and then I was locked up until the following day.
I was interviewed and bailed on suspicion of driving while over the prescribed limit.
At this point I rang around a bit and was told I shouldn't have admitted to driving by every drink drive specialist solicitor going...seems dodgey to me but each to their own, but they would all take the case...prices ranged from £600 - £5500 - sharks.
Answered bail where I was charged as the Police had done a BAC calculation based on my statement and claimed post alcohol consumption which provided enough evidence to prosecute.
The BAC calculation is something you can do yourself in all honesty and get a good idea of what its going to come out at and what's feasible to argue - its no going to sand in court but if the figures look good you can commission one for £200-£400 and the author will appear in court too. When I did my own I was missing a good 40mg based on my statement...not looking good. But, it did indicate at the time of driving I would have been around the 45 mark, a damn site better than 74! this potentially meant although I was unlikely to get a slap on the wrist or acquitted, I would be in the lowest band for prosecution and looking at 12-16 month ban, not 17-22 and a huge fine.
I opted for the defend myself or take my chance with a duty solicitor option so went to court - dress well people, it makes all the difference trakkies are asking for a slap.
The duty solicitor was really helpful and advised me that a guilty plea would be best as I thought it would and asked me how it would effect my life if I lose my license. She also had a copy of the prosecution files which I was allowed to look over and as I calculated I was calculated to be 42mg at the time of driving with a range of 29-54 - a really good expensive solicitor might argue an acquittal at that, but I didn't have an endless pot of money.
She hammed it up, argued the magistrate away from 74 and down to 42 and with a quick "please accept my apologies" statement from me and little else, I was given a 14 month ban, offered the awareness course which drops me down to just under a year and a £300 fine. Plus court costs and victim surcharge it came to £415. Less than ideal but a lot better than if I had gone in blind or tried to argue a not guilty plea.
It was commented that it would have been 12 month if I hadn't crashed and had I not been so co-operative at all stages it would have been longer.
Court was about 10 mins in length and not as bad as imagined.
Best way to avoid this sh!t..dont get behind the wheel after any drinking at all. Getting caught once is bad, twice and you really are knackered. I could have killed someone, I could still lose my job, I will be in the paper, I've had to move closer to work at great expense....nobody needs it in their life. And you dont want to kill yourself, or explain to someones family why you got in he ar and killed someone they love.
