First Time Offence

Convicted Driver Insurance

youvegotthat

New Member
Brief Description of Offence:
I walked to my flat after a night out (was moving out the following day so celebrating with a few leaving drinks)..then decided to drive a short distance to the supermarket (2 miles ish). Was stopped on my way home. I had seen the police car behind and so pulled the car into a parking bay a few hundred yards from home. Police car pulled up behind with the blue lights just as i pulled in. I had a rear light out. It was 3am.

Blood Alcohol Level and Reading Type:
reading 1 = 59 mg. At the station > reading 1 = 61 mg, reading 2 = 59mg. no blood sample.

Mitigating Factors:
31 years old, no previous convictions, clean licence (only previous offence was speeding points in may/june 2006). I was not intending to drive and had even walked home, but stupidly went to the supermarket. I have been unemployed/self employed for 18 months. Having lived away from "home" since university I had finally secured a job back at home starting imminently. Have lived in the area for 18months and have a host of debts / arrears and a finally had a shares windfall that had cleared in the bank at midnight. It had been a huge weight of my mind and i was moving out the following day. I spent 5 hours in a cell in a police station 12 miles away then had to catch the bus back. The court appearance is on 9th November 2010 in Bury, 230 miles from my home (450mile+ round trip). The job i was hoping to start is now in jeopardy (family business). What makes the ban so much worse is that my home address is miles out in the countryside, there's one bus every hour to the next largest town (5 miles away) and getting to the railway station is another 50+mins on the bus...

Aggravating Factors:
I was fully co-operative

Offered the Drink Driving Rehabilitation Course?:
I would be fully prepared to do this and could raise the funds for a bigger fine if a ban could at all be avoided.

Any advice? Likely sentence? Possibility of avoiding a ban?
 
just to add to this. I have never claimed any benefits at all. Basically, i am a professional gambler for the last 18 months, so technically i guess thats self employed, but i always state unemployed if asked, no money is in my own name...and i stated i was unemployed at the police station. The shares which cleared were from a SAYE scheme in a previous job.
 
Just one more factor. I am a keen cyclist but had a bad fall the weekend prior to the dd incident. My shoulder ligaments are injured and i stated i had the injury at the station and also stated i was taking codeine/ anti-inflamatories.

This obviously means i am unable to cycle at present and my bikes wheel is badly buckled as a result. This again hinders the possiblity of getting around if banned in the short term. Doctor advised i will be about back to normal in 2 more weeks, (court date is in 1 week).
 
Hi,

Thanks for your post.

We are often asked whether it is possible to avoid a disqualification by paying an enhanced fine. This is not the case. For offences of driving with excess alcohol the disqualification is mandatory. In your case, with a reading of 59ug/100ml you will be liable for a disqualification of 12 - 16 months and a fine.

Yes, you should be offered the drink driving rehabilitation course, the successful completion of which would reduce your disqualification by 25%. That however is the best result that you could expect on a guilty plea.

The only means of avoiding a disqualification in a case such as this would be if you contested the matter and were found not guilty. We would need to discuss your case with you in order to determine whether it can be defended in Court.


Kind regards,


Carl Johnson
Solicitor
On behalf of Sean Joyce
 
Thank you for your reply.

If i plead guilty. What would be my best approach in order to aim for a 12 month ban? (which after the rehab course would leave me with 9 months)?

This will be the first time i have ever been to court and it is a considerable journey for me to make in order to appear. (450ish miles round trip).
 
The difficulty in your case is that a reading of 59ug is right at the upper end of the relevant sentencing bracket of 12 - 16 months. For example, a reading of 60ug would attract a disqualification of 17 - 22 months.

In those circumstances, the Courts will sometimes sentence at the upper end of the range, even on a guilty plea.

To answer your question, the way to aim for a disqualification of 12 months would be through a good plea of mitigation. That would involve presenting the Court with as much information as possible concerning the offence itself and also information regarding you personally (such as the information which you set out in your first post).


Kind regards,


Carl Johnson
Solicitor
On behalf of Sean Joyce
 
Many thanks for your reply.

I will look to build a solid case for mitigation and let you know my outcome following the hearing.
 
I travelled to court and self-represented myself today.

Over the past few days I have spent quality time compiling a thorough mitigation.

Result

12 month ban + drink driving rehab course (£150) = 9 months
£200 fine + £15 victim surcharge + £85 costs = £300

Overall i am delighted with 9 months and £450.

Not nice having the prospect of a 16 month ban looming over me for ten days.

Thanks again for your advice.
 
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