1st time. Remorseful and ashamed.

Convicted Driver Insurance

MikeyMike

New Member
Hi,

Last Thursday morning I was driving a short distance home after having 4 Lagers. Unfortunately a cat ran in front of the car, stupidly I swerved, clipped a parked car and ended up with the car on its roof. There was no-one else involved in the accident.

The police attended and an ambulance was also called, although I had not sustained any injuries. The police were unable to breathalise me at the scene due to a faulty breathaliser, but they smelled alcohol on my breath.
I was taken to hospital, checked out ok and then the police took me to the police station, where I blew 49 on the station breathaliser. I was detained in a police cell and charged the next morning with DR20 with breath alcohol level of 49. I have to appear in court on 11th August.

I feel remorseful and ashamed of making this huge error of judgement. I am not a heavy drinker and have never driven under the influence of alcohol before. I have no previous criminal convictions and no current penalty points on my license ( I did get an SP30 in 2007).

I am afraid of what will happen at court, but I need to prepare myself.

I would like to prepare a plea of mitigation.

Would you give me some idea of what sentence to expect and what I can do to prepare myself for what is to come?

Thanks.

Mike
 
For a first offence with a reading of 44 in breath you fall into the lowest bracket of the sentencing guidelines advise the imposition of a 12-16 month disqualification and a Band C fine which would be calculated based upon your income. You are also likely to be offered the drink drive rehabilitation course which would reduce the length of the disqualification by up to 25% upon completion.

The content of a plea of mitigation will vary depending upon a person's circumstances. You can however explain to the Court that this is your first offence and you presently hold a clean driving licence. You could also explain what impact the disqualification is likely to have and you can present any character references you have obtained in support of this.

If you are interested in the possibility of representation you are welcome to contact my department on 0333 999 7158.
 
Thank you so much for your reply Sean. My Breath level was 49, not 44 (I wish it had been 44!!

Currently there are factors in my life which could be considered as mitigation, but I'm not sure if any would work against me.


I know it' a bit much to ask, but if I were to post a draft plea of mitigation up on here would you have any time to give me any feedback?

Mike
 
Apologies, I'd misread the post!

In respect of the draft plea of mitigation, I'm afraid that I cannot offer any specific advice about what submissions should be made to the Court. When I advise people on cases I have the benefit of taking detailed instructions from them and seeing the prosecution papers. If you were to post the mitigation and I gave advice about it then there is a chance that I could accidentally misadvise you as I am not aware of the full facts of the case.

The only advice I can give in respect of the mitigation is that you should think through exactly what impact the disqualification is likely to have on you and anyone else who will be affected by the matter.
 
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