2nd time drink driving

[ricmatisse]

Last 22/04/2011(Friday) i went to a friends house,had dinner and we had drunk half a bottle of vodka between us. I then decide to go home and i drove slowly for 30 miles. 5 miles from home i was stopped by the police(3.00am) on the grounds that they had received a telephone call from a bus driver concerned with my driving style. I must confess that after passing by the bus i felt difficulties to maintain my car in my lane. They asked(Police) if i had any drink in the last hours which i promptly said yes. I then provided a breath sample on the roadside that showed 89. They arrested me and in the mean time while talking with them(there were 5 police cars) one of the police officers jumps towards me,grabs my neck shouting"do not move". I did not understood the reason for this aggression. We went then to the local police station where i did provide a 2nd breath sample that showed 76. I was then required to provide blood sample which it was done at 05.50am. I was asked about my profession which i replied unemployed when in fact i work as a money advisor for a charity. I decided not to disclose my profession to the police due to the way that i have been threaten earlier. The bottle of vodka was in my bag and the police kept it as evidence. I was then driven back home.

Background:

In 2005 i received a 12 months ban for drink driving.

In Dec/2005 i was caught driving whilst disqualified. I was ban for a further 18 months and sentenced to 150h unpaid work.

Since then i had no other offences of any kind at all.

Apart from my job which is quite stressful in this days i also care for my disable partner who cannot move around without my assistance. She has chronicle pain in her left hip/leg due to a cancer therefore i need to driver around to gp/hospital on a regular basis.

Prior to the offence i was taking a very strong antidepressant which in conjunction with the alcohol it may had some influence re my inability to maintain my car in a straight line on that occasion.

Please advise.

Thank you.

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

I note that a specimen of blood was taken. Have you therefore been bailed to return to the police station at a later date? Have you been provided with your own part of the specimen? If so it may be worth having the specimen independently analysed as that will give you an indication as to the likely alcohol reading in the police specimen.

If the specimen is positive you will be liable for a minimum disqualification of 36 months by virtue of your previous conviction. The exact length of the disqualification will be determined by the reading. If for example the blood was of a similar level to the breath reading at the police station (76ug), you would be liable for a disqualification of 36 - 46 months and a fine. The Court may be prepared to offer you a drink driving rehabilitation course, the successful completion of which will reduce your disqualification by up to 25%, however the Courts are often reluctant to do so on a second conviction.

The issues concerning your partner will be taken into account as mitigation, however this will not prevent the Court from imposing a disqualification.

If you would like to discuss your case in more detail please feel free to call 0845 002 0736.


Carl Johnson
Drink Driving Solicitor
On behalf of Sean Joyce

 

[ricmatisse]

Dear Carl,

Thank you for your advice. Yes, I was provided with a blood sample that I have sent to an independent lab to be analysed. I will have to return to the Police Station on the 26/05/2011. In the meantime I shall get in touch with yourselves as I believe that I will need a strong representation/mitigation in case of the blood test comes positive(I believe it will).

Thank you.

Best regards

Ricmatisse