Had an accident with no one else involved, blew 97, first time offence

[Robby_W]

Was out on Thursday night for a works dinner, stupidly drove home after and crashed my car at around 1.30am a couple hundred metres from my home. No one else involved, no was else was around, no injuries to myself or anyone else. Walked home and the police arrived at my house not long after, breathalysed me and I blew 77 so was taken to the police station where I blew a consistent 97. Admitted guilt straight away and was kept in the cells for 13 hours.

The charge sheet only says about drink driving and not about an accident or leaving the scene which I suppose is a blessing. The charge is Section 5 (1) (A) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and Schedule 2 to the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988.

This is a first time offence, 23 years old, have a clean license, never been in trouble with the police, fully cooperated but I'm just really scared that becasue it was a high reading and an accident involved that I may get a custodial sentence.

The large difference in breathalyser tests seems odd to me as well as I had stopped drinking a couple hours before.

Can anyone shed some light on the whole situation as I'm losing my mind worrying about it.

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

With a reading of 97 in breath you are very unlikely to receive a custodial sentence, the Magistrates sentencing guidelines advise a 23-28 month disqualification and a community order. You are toward the lower end of this sentencing bracket and as it is your first offence you should be offered the drink drive rehabilitation course which will reduce any disqualification by up to 25%.

The significant increase between the roadside breath sample and the sample at the police station does seem strange, however the roadside breathalyser is not as accurate as the one at the station so this may account for the difference. My department has a lot of experience in dealing with these matters, if you would like to discuss this further please call us on 0845 002 0736 and ask to speak to Alex.