Second offence

[CumbriaCumbria]

I’m posting on behalf of a friend.
Last Saturday morning, he drove his car after drinking the night before.
At about 10am he was involved in a one car accident outside a busy Spar shop which is also on a residential estate.
He was distracted, hit a kerb and rolled his vehicle onto its roof. Thankfully, he was unhurt.
No other vehicles or people were injured although the road was shut for an hour.
However, he was arrested and charged with driving while above the legal alcohol limit.
His car is a right-off and he has been suspended by his employers.
In 2004, he was convicted of drink-driving and banned for 18 months.
I don’t know how far he was over the limit last weekend.
What can he expect at sentencing and will the mitigating factors of the time, location etc make any difference?

Thanks for your help.

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

By virtue of your friend's previous conviction, he will be liable for a minimum disqualification of 3 years for this offence. The actual disqualification will be determined by the level of his reading.

The fact that he was involved in an accident will serve as an aggravating feature, although it is helpful that there were no injuries to any third parties and there were no other vehicles involved. The fact that the offence was committed the morning after is normally treated as a mitigating factor by the Courts.

In order to properly advise on the likely sentence I would need to know the exact alcohol reading. If your friend would like to discuss his case in more detail with one of our lawyers he should call 0845 002 0736.


Carl Johnson
Drink Driving Solicitor
On behalf of Sean Joyce