4th Time after 11 responsible years

[Kushdi]

Hi

I have been banned for DD previously, in 2002 (DR10) and 2005 (DR10 and DR30), magistrates were favorable due to depression. I learnt my lesson, I remain generally fit and healthy and have no other convictions. However, recently (last 12 months) I have been feeling 'under a cloud' with bouts of anxiety and panic attacks. I have seen the doctor a couple of times and explained the issues, they have prescribed antidepressants and suggested counselling (which I haven't attended).

On Friday 5th August I was around my ex girlfriends flat having a few drinks, which I usually avoid as I experience anxiety and paranoia when out in social situations and drinking alcohol. But, I thought I'd brave it as I hadn't seen her and some friends of ours in quite a while. I was planning on staying the night and had the car parked for overnight. later in the evening, I had a moment of paranoia, thinking someone was trying to set me up for something, I said some things I didn't remember saying and left without thinking, got in the car, drove off (to get away in a blind panic), faster than the speed limit (not recorded) and was pulled over less than quarter of a mile away.

I blew over on the roadside and 83 in the station. What will be the potential outcome to this, obviously I'm remorseful etc., and will be explaining the above to the court. It was the one day I decided to do something different! Having a ban is going to make things a lot worse for me, I know that's not their concern and its the same for everyone, but I'm hoping there is another angle they can take on this.

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

I'm afraid that if you simply plead guilty to the offence then a disqualification is mandatory. That being said, whilst you have committed previous drink driving offences, as these are over 10 years ago you will not be subject to the minimum 3 year disqualification. For a reading of 83 in breath the Magistrates sentencing guidelines advise the imposition of a 17-22 month disqualification and a Band C fine. The Court may offer you the option of attending the drink driver rehabilitation course, however if you have previously attended this they may decide it is not fitting in the circumstances.

There is clearly quite a significant back story to this matter and I would advise obtaining as much information in support of this as possible, e.g. a letter from your GP, a reference from people present at your ex-girlfriend's etc. Hopefully this will be sufficient to convince the Court to keep the sentence as low as possible.

If you are interested in obtaining representation for the upcoming hearing you are welcome to contact my department on 0333 999 7158.

 

[Kushdi]

Hi

Thank you very much for your response. Just one more question if I may, please:

The host at the party is also willing to admit that she had given me doubles all night rather than singles (as i had asked and expected) - so instead of 5 singles over 5 hours, I actually had 5 doubles. I have her statement.

Can I enter a not-guilty plea with this in hand too, as special reason? Or will it just be mitigating?

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

To clarify, a special reasons plea is still a guilty plea. If your drinks were 'spiked' then this provides grounds on which to argue a special reasons plea. However, it is by no means certain that you would have been below the legal limit had you only been drinking single measures. In the simplest terms, if you had believed that you were only consuming half of the alcohol and this would have resulted in your reading being halved, this still leaves you in the position of your reading being in the region of 41/42.

A secondary issue is that the Court/prosecution may well query why you did not realise that you were over the limit with your reading being so high. Special reasons are applicable if you had believed that you were under the limit as you had been drinking single measures. However if the Court feel that you should have realised that you were drunk at the time then they may reject the special reasons plea.