No legal representation advice.. caught drink driving

[jordie13]

Firstly I know drink driving is stupid but in my defence it was a morning after situation were as I believed I would not be over the limit. I got pulled over by the police for narrowly missing a red light. They said the could smell alcohol on my breath then did breathalyser and i blew 60, which i was extremely surprised at! I am a student studying criminology and the criminal justice system, ironically. I have no criminal record and no traffic offences. I was just wondering if you could give me advice on representing my self in court with regards to procedure and what to say as I do not qualify for legal aid and cannot afford legal representation. I know the type of ban and fine I will be facing ect.. but I have spoke to a few people who have been given a large amount of points and a large fine instead of being banned? I care for my disabled mother who needs trip to the hospital, doctors chemist frequently so I need my car to be able to do this. My university is also 40 minutes away therefore my car is needed for this as i am in my last year so need to be able to freely get to and from uni as I am doing my dissertation and i need to be back for my mother therefore public transport is extremely unreliable due to the area I live in. I know this was a stupid mistake but i am a bright girl who made one silly mistake and believe me I am paying for it!

Also i would like to note that the police who arrested me said I had been involved in a road traffic accident and this is the reason why he stopped me, and when i went to pick my car up from the garage he had had it towed to they showed me on the paper where the officer had marked the car to show where it had been hit? I have three witnesses to say that this accident did not take place. Can you shed any light on this also?​

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

I'm afraid that any drink drive conviction carries a minimum 12 month disqualification, the Court will not impose penalty points as an alternative. For a reading of 60 in breath the Magistrates sentencing guidelines advise a 17-22 month disqualification and a means tested fine, you are at the lowest end of this sentencing bracket. I can't provide specific advice on how to prepare your case for Court without taking detailed instructions from you, the best advice I can give is to make sure that you inform the Magistrates of all the impacts the disqualification will have on you and anyone else who will be affected by it.

I also suspect that there may not be any benefit in challenging the police's evidence, if it is proven that there was no accident they are likely to say that they believed there had been contact but were mistaken. It is unlikely that this will be sufficient grounds to enter a not guilty plea.