Son 17 - Blew 40 when stopped reversing in car park

[tabasco1]

Son 17 (2 days before his 18th) had driven to local park to play footie. Met up with mates who wanted to go the local pub to watch sport. He had 1.5 pint (on empty pint) over a 3-4 hour period. Mates dropped him off a the park, he got in his car a decided to reverse the car to move it to a safer place. Police came in the car park and breathalysed him he blew 40. The car park is 700m from our front door. He has a date to appear at youth magistrates court. He uses his car to drive to his apprenticeship 5 days week. I did approach a local solicitors who basically stated he blew over 40, so there's nothing he can do. What is his looking at?

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

To clarify, I would be very surprised if 1.5 pints of beer had put him over the limit, especially if consumed over a period of 3-4 hours.

If someone has only driven the vehicle a very short distance it is sometimes possible to argue a case of special reasons. This means that your son would still plead guilty to the offence but it could be argued that due to the very short distance driven he should not be disqualified. There are however numerous factors that will be considered by the Court. If your son knew that his car was not parked in such a position that it could be left safely, the Court may query why he did not move it before he began drinking. Similarly as he was only 700m from home could he not have called someone to move the vehicle who had not been drinking. The Court will also want to know exactly how far he drove the vehicle and how far he was intending to drive it.

If he simply pleads guilty to the offence without advancing a special reasons plea then the Court will look to impose a 12-16 month disqualification and a Band C fine. He is also likely to be offered the opportunity to attend the drink drive rehabilitation course which would reduce the length of the disqualification by up to 25% upon completion.