car park

[bob]

Hi,my niece was caught drink driving in a Tesco car park @ 3 am on a Sunday morning.Was there an offence comitted as surely it is private land when the store is closed.

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

An offence of drink driving must be committed on either a road or other public place.

What constitutes a public place is a question of fact and degree. The usual test for Court to consider is the extent to which the place is accessible to ordinary members of the public. A supermarket car park is normally completely accessible to members of the public and will therefore fit the definition.

For a place to be considered private, there would need to be evidence of access being restricted to a limited class of people.

If you would like to contact a member of the team to discuss your case in more detail, please call 0845 002 0736.


Carl Johnson
Drink Driving Solicitor
On behalf of Sean Joyce