At that sort of reading the guidelines state that the Court should impose a ban of 23 to 28 months along with a Community Sentence. The full sentencing guidelines can be found at:
http://www.drinkdriving.org/drink_driving_sentencing_guidelines.php
As for your SIA licence you should consult a document called "Get licenced" issued by the SIA and is freely available on their web site at:
http://www.sia.homeoffice.gov.uk/Documents/licensing/sia_get_licensed.pdf
Every three years you must apply for the renewal of your SIA licence and as part of the application you will be required to disclose all convictions. Convictions are catagorised depending on their seriousness. The SIA look at both the catagory of offence and the sentence imposed to help them decide what effect this has on your suitability to hold an SIA licence. The Court of Appeal have decided that the "Get Licenced" framework is not simply a guide but a set of "sharp edged rules" and the SIA and courts have no discretion and must apply the criteria in the booklet.
A drink driving conviction is catagorised as a "Single Significant offence". According to page 39 of the "Get licenced" booklet, this means:
If you receive a fine:
- you will not be granted an SIA licence for 12 months from the end of the sentence restrictions (ie after the end of ban)
- after 12 months the SIA will consider additional factors (and therefore exercise some discretion;
- after 2 years you will be granted an SIA licence provided there are no further convictions or cautions recorded.
If you receive a community penalty:
- you will not be granted a licence for 12 months from the end of the sentence restriction (ie from the end of the last day of your ban);
- after 12 months the SIA will consider additional factors (and exercise some discretion);
- after 5 years you will be granted an SIA licence provided there are no further convictions or cautions recorded.
I recommend you read "Get licenced" to obtain a better understanding of the rules.
