Caught drink driving with single vehicle accident

[NEWBIE]

Hi, last week I had an accident involving only my vehicle and myself, whereby after braking sharply on a wet road I collided with the central reservation causing damage to my car and the barrier. I blew 62 at the roadside and blew 54 at the police station, was charged and appear in court in just over a week.

With a reading of 54, and this being the first time I have ever been arrested or dealt with by the police, what would the likely outcome be in terms of the ban and fine? I've held a clean licence for 10 years. Would a custodial sentence be considered?

I was fully cooperative from the beginning and am pleading guilty.

Thank you for any advice.

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

For a first offence with a reading of 54 in breath the Court will be looking to impose a 12-16 month disqualification and a Band C fine which will be calculated based upon your income. You are also likely to be offered the opportunity to attend the drink drive rehabilitation course which would reduce the length of the ban by up to 25% upon completion, therefore the lowest disqualification that could be imposed would be 12 months reduced to 9.

You are at no risk of a custodial sentence being imposed, these are only considered for readings of 120 and greater.

You can present mitigation to the Court to try and keep the sentence down to the lower end of the above range. This can focus on things such as your previous good character, the impact the disqualification will have etc.

If you are interested in potentially obtaining legal representation for the case you are welcome to contact my department on 0333 999 7158.

 

[NEWBIE]

Thank you for your response, SeanJoyceStephensons, would the accident have an impact on the length of the ban, or could it still be the minimum 12 months imposed? And would the accident affect whether or not I'm offered the rehabilitation course?

Many thanks

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

The accident will be considered an aggravating factor by the Courts, but this is by no means an insurmountable issue. If you have sufficient mitigation to present to the Court then this can and often does outweigh the aggravating features of the case.

I would not expect the collision to have any bearing on the Court's decision to offer you the rehabilitation course.