Advice?

[Shannonthomas23]

Hi,
I passed my driving test in 2009 wen I was young and foolosh, a few months later I blew 40 and got 12 month ban for drink driving. It's now 2014 ad last night I had drank but that was a few hours ago, I stupidly drove a short distance, basically around the corner of a road and I was stopped by the police. This will be my second drink driving affenxe and I was just wondering what to expect? will I deffinatley lose my licence again? I blew 41.
thanks

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

If you just enter a guilty plea and mitigation then yes you will be facing another disqualification, and as this is your second offence within 10 years it will be a minimum of 3 years.

However there may be a couple of options open to you at this point. You state that you blew 41 in breath, did the police offer you the option of providing a blood or urine test as an alternative after you provided the breath samples?

You also mention that you only drove around the corner, how far in terms of distance did you actually drive and was there any particular reason you decided to drive?

 

[Shannonthomas23]

Thanks for replying

they did not offer me the option of neither a blood test or urine sample. I drove around 20 -30 yards and was seen on CCTV but when the police arrived I had parked. The reason I dove was because I had argued with my girlfriend and we had no other way of getting home because it was rather late, although I do know this was a stupid thing to do and I will be pleading guilty

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

If your reading was only 41 in breath and the police have not offered you the option of providing either a blood or urine specimen then I would advise that you do not plead guilty without at least having the papers reviewed by a solicitor. The police are required to make you aware of your option to provide a specimen of blood or urine as an alternative to your breath samples if the readings were below 51. If they have failed to do this then it could be argued that they have breached the required procedures and therefore the breath specimens provided are inadmisable in evidence. I would also advise that you write to the police station to request that any CCTV footage of the intoxilyzer procedure is preserved so that you can request a copy at the first Court hearing.

One option available to you is to speak to the duty solicitor who will be at Court on the day. He should be able to review the prosecution papers and advise you regarding any procedural errors that may have been made. Alternatively you can instruct a solicitor privately, they will discuss your case in detail before the hearing and the represent you at Court and review the prosecution papers with you. My department specialise in this area and we would be happy to assist, you are welcome to call on 0333 999 7158.