Had Court today, third offence.

[zenova]

Hi,
Just thought I'd post this to help out anyone else up for a repeat offence.

Background:
First caught in 2005, didnt co operate with Police, blew 74 and after an 8 month court saga was banned for 16 months and fined £200.

Caught again in 2006, over the limit and disqualified. Crashed the car and knocked myself out, woke up in an ambulance with the boys in blue waiting. No one else was involved.
Co-operated this time and was given a 3 year ban, £300 fine and 3 month sentence, suspended for 2 years.

Caught for third time this year, the day after St Patricks day. Early morning and still over the limit (blew 90, i was very surprised how high it was, and so were the police)
Had re-taken my test in 2010, full licence, insurance etc and most importantly wasnt disqualified.

I went to Court today, arrived at 10am and was called at 10:10. I had a solicitor and we entered a guilty plea. Solicitor explained that it was the next morning, I wasnt out and driving home from the pub etc..
The Judge said as its the third time in 10 years it is very serious and asked me did I have anything I wanted to say. I explained to him that when I was younger (the time of the previous offences) that I was an idiot and was a bit off the rails, but i've kept myself away from trouble since then, got my full licence back, havent been in trouble with the police in 7 years etc, and I just got caught out by drinking too much that day, and not sleeping it off for long enough.

Result was a 3 year ban, £400 fine with 6 months to pay, and surprisingly, he offered me the course to reduce it, as I had never done it before, even though my solicitor had told me that the course is only for first time offenders. A prosecutor also mentioned that it may not be applicable to me, but the Judge still certified me for it???

Anyway, all in all not a bad result - I was expecting much worse, ( i think most of us prepare ourselves for the worst case scenario)
So if your up in court, It wont be as bad as you think!

 

[doubletrouble]

Hi,
Just thought I'd post this to help out anyone else up for a repeat offence.

Background:
First caught in 2005, didnt co operate with Police, blew 74 and after an 8 month court saga was banned for 16 months and fined £200.

Caught again in 2006, over the limit and disqualified. Crashed the car and knocked myself out, woke up in an ambulance with the boys in blue waiting. No one else was involved.
Co-operated this time and was given a 3 year ban, £300 fine and 3 month sentence, suspended for 2 years.

Caught for third time this year, the day after St Patricks day. Early morning and still over the limit (blew 90, i was very surprised how high it was, and so were the police)
Had re-taken my test in 2010, full licence, insurance etc and most importantly wasnt disqualified.

I went to Court today, arrived at 10am and was called at 10:10. I had a solicitor and we entered a guilty plea. Solicitor explained that it was the next morning, I wasnt out and driving home from the pub etc..
The Judge said as its the third time in 10 years it is very serious and asked me did I have anything I wanted to say. I explained to him that when I was younger (the time of the previous offences) that I was an idiot and was a bit off the rails, but i've kept myself away from trouble since then, got my full licence back, havent been in trouble with the police in 7 years etc, and I just got caught out by drinking too much that day, and not sleeping it off for long enough.

Result was a 3 year ban, £400 fine with 6 months to pay, and surprisingly, he offered me the course to reduce it, as I had never done it before, even though my solicitor had told me that the course is only for first time offenders. A prosecutor also mentioned that it may not be applicable to me, but the Judge still certified me for it???

Anyway, all in all not a bad result - I was expecting much worse, ( i think most of us prepare ourselves for the worst case scenario)
So if your up in court, It wont be as bad as you think!

Wow thank you very much for posting this , I hope u can read my story dear, I'm on 2nd refusal to give breath test it says, im in a bad place, see myself in jail

 

[zenova]

Hi,
saw your thread earlier.
First thing I'd do is stop worrying!! You end up getting that stressed and worried that you make yourself sick, and after the result in Court, you kick yourself for making that big a deal of it.
Yes its a serious offence, and yes you should feel bad/ashamed/remorseful about it. But it isn't the end of the world.

I obviously wont know what you will get as a sentence, as each case is decided on its own merits, but for a second offence you will probably end up with a 3 year ban, a fine of about 2 week's wages, and maybe a probation order. You may get a suspended sentence instead of probation (as I did for my second offence)

Jail time is extremely unlikely, unless you were involved in a serious accident!

 

[doubletrouble]

Hi,
saw your thread earlier.
First thing I'd do is stop worrying!! You end up getting that stressed and worried that you make yourself sick, and after the result in Court, you kick yourself for making that big a deal of it.
Yes its a serious offence, and yes you should feel bad/ashamed/remorseful about it. But it isn't the end of the world.

I obviously wont know what you will get as a sentence, as each case is decided on its own merits, but for a second offence you will probably end up with a 3 year ban, a fine of about 2 week's wages, and maybe a probation order. You may get a suspended sentence instead of probation (as I did for my second offence)

Jail time is extremely unlikely, unless you were involved in a serious accident!

Hie thanks just got a letter for legal aid saying its been granted and that letter also states that if I please guilty first trial I get discount, any idea what that means? As there is one on the 8th may and one on the 4th of June , so take it I plead guilty on the 8th is that the end of it and the discount bit I'm not sure what that means, thank you for your advice, yes I was and am having nightmares, I worry more about incase I get splashed on the papers, then life will be hard were I live, and work will be a no go zone, just trying very hard to move on, I know I was stupid and so ashamed I can't even put in words, my lawyer told me that jail is unlikely, but I suppose I just geared up for the worst. Keep in touch dear and I will be updating you on this long road

 

[zenova]

That means if you plead guilty at the first opportunity, rather than pleading not guilty and forcing a trial, you will get a lighter sentence.
Probably a few months less on the ban.
If you plead guilty on 8th may, it will probably be adjourned until 4th june for reports etc, and then you will be sentenced on the 4th of june.

I received my certification for the course today in the post. Strange, as I thought I wouldnt be entitled, but a good result!

As for work, I guess it depends on what you work as. I had to tell my boss as i needed the days off to attend the police station and Court, and she was surprisingly really good about it.
She brought me into a meeting away from everyone else and asked if there was anything they could do, like more time off, or changing shift patterns. Turns out that she lives not too far from me and drives by my place to get to work, so i can get a lift in with her instead of having to get the bus.
What is your job?

 

[doubletrouble]

That means if you plead guilty at the first opportunity, rather than pleading not guilty and forcing a trial, you will get a lighter sentence.
Probably a few months less on the ban.
If you plead guilty on 8th may, it will probably be adjourned until 4th june for reports etc, and then you will be sentenced on the 4th of june.

I received my certification for the course today in the post. Strange, as I thought I wouldnt be entitled, but a good result!

As for work, I guess it depends on what you work as. I had to tell my boss as i needed the days off to attend the police station and Court, and she was surprisingly really good about it.
She brought me into a meeting away from everyone else and asked if there was anything they could do, like more time off, or changing shift patterns. Turns out that she lives not too far from me and drives by my place to get to work, so i can get a lift in with her instead of having to get the bus.
What is your job?

I am a psychiatric nurse, and thought if I plead guilty they will just sentence me there and there, what's your take on the papers too. I hope they give me the course too.

 

[zenova]

they might sentence you there and then, but if they already have 2 dates set, i'd imagine theyd get some sort of pre-sentence report.

it all depends on where you live and what other news is going on in the area for the papers.
I live in a rural area where nothing ever happens so am def gonna be in it (again)
at least it was a brief hearing and didnt go into much details, so there wont be much for them to write.

 

[doubletrouble]

they might sentence you there and then, but if they already have 2 dates set, i'd imagine theyd get some sort of pre-sentence report.

it all depends on where you live and what other news is going on in the area for the papers.
I live in a rural area where nothing ever happens so am def gonna be in it (again)
at least it was a brief hearing and didnt go into much details, so there wont be much for them to write.

I thought so too, as the lawyer on the first day I went to sheriff's court he told me to plead not guilty untii he gets all the paper work from prosecutors and statements off the police, so the court set two days as I said not guilty.
another thing that's been bugging me is the way I was handled , there were two officers, one went to move my car and when the other officer told me to listen to the guy as she only just joined the force and she was not commenting on the discrepancy on why he felt I had given him the name of were the car came from not my name, but tbh all I want is for this to b over, I live in Scotland , they will crash the car. Its been I pounded so , Mr bus been good I get up fo work now hr before
Usual,

 

[zenova]

I thought so too, as the lawyer on the first day I went to sheriff's court he told me to plead not guilty untii he gets all the paper work from prosecutors and statements off the police, so the court set two days as I said not guilty.
another thing that's been bugging me is the way I was handled , there were two officers, one went to move my car and when the other officer told me to listen to the guy as she only just joined the force and she was not commenting on the discrepancy on why he felt I had given him the name of were the car came from not my name, but tbh all I want is for this to b over, I live in Scotland , they will crash the car. Its been I pounded so , Mr bus been good I get up fo work now hr before
Usual,

It must work differently in Scotland than here. I'd have thought instead of pleading not guilty, they would have asked for an adjournment to get all the paperwork in order, that's what happened with my previous case.

I'm in Northern Ireland, they don't take your car here, and the police actually drove me back to my car the next day and gave me my keys back.
I still have the car parked out the front, going to get it fixed up, get someone to put it through its MOT next month and then sell it. At least something good will come out of my holiday from the roads, I will save myself a fortune in petrol, insurance, maintenance etc

 

[doubletrouble]

It must work differently in Scotland than here. I'd have thought instead of pleading not guilty, they would have asked for an adjournment to get all the paperwork in order, that's what happened with my previous case.

I'm in Northern Ireland, they don't take your car here, and the police actually drove me back to my car the next day and gave me my keys back.
I still have the car parked out the front, going to get it fixed up, get someone to put it through its MOT next month and then sell it. At least something good will come out of my holiday from the roads, I will save myself a fortune in petrol, insurance, maintenance etc

You are quite right every month since it happened I put £250 , in saving just see it as going to insurance& never touch it, so 2 months later its£500 if I just train myself that its for insurance, il be over lord knows how much saved after ban, its a new thing in Scotland taking and crushing cars but only got it free off garage were my uncle works so it is well, thank u for taking your time to reply to me, I really appreciate that as I felt lost, and felt it was only me who is messing up or have messed up, I really look forward to mail, kind of a family that don't judge u x. Almost ran wi ex to cork Ireland but thought I might as well face the music

 

[zenova]

You are quite right every month since it happened I put £250 , in saving just see it as going to insurance& never touch it, so 2 months later its£500 if I just train myself that its for insurance, il be over lord knows how much saved after ban, its a new thing in Scotland taking and crushing cars but only got it free off garage were my uncle works so it is well, thank u for taking your time to reply to me, I really appreciate that as I felt lost, and felt it was only me who is messing up or have messed up, I really look forward to mail, kind of a family that don't judge u x. Almost ran wi ex to cork Ireland but thought I might as well face the music

Insurance actually isn't that bad once you get the license back.
My insurance was £680 for a Megane 1.9 turbo-diesel, with 2 drink driving convictions, 1 driving while disqualified, and 1 driving with no insurance. All declared.
That's almost the same as my sister is paying for a 1.0 Micra, and she has no convictions and a 1 year NCB. Difference is that I'm 8 years older.

There wouldn't be any point running away to Ireland, all your going to get is a driving ban, and the ban is effective in Ireland as well now. They have an agreement with the UK that driving bans apply in both countries. I was planning on moving to the Republic of Ireland and getting a license (i only live 15 miles from the border) until I found out that it wouldn't make a difference. Besides, you would just end up in more trouble if you ever came back, as there would probably be arrest warrants etc put out for not turning up.

 

[doubletrouble]

Insurance actually isn't that bad once you get the license back.
My insurance was £680 for a Megane 1.9 turbo-diesel, with 2 drink driving convictions, 1 driving while disqualified, and 1 driving with no insurance. All declared.
That's almost the same as my sister is paying for a 1.0 Micra, and she has no convictions and a 1 year NCB. Difference is that I'm 8 years older.

There wouldn't be any point running away to Ireland, all your going to get is a driving ban, and the ban is effective in Ireland as well now. They have an agreement with the UK that driving bans apply in both countries. I was planning on moving to the Republic of Ireland and getting a license (i only live 15 miles from the border) until I found out that it wouldn't make a difference. Besides, you would just end up in more trouble if you ever came back, as there would probably be arrest warrants etc put out for not turning up.

That's true hun running is not the answer, those thoughts do come in though when going through stuff like this but looking at the big picture, I have requested 2 weeks off on both days, so all I want now is for this nightmare to be over and look for the future, the travelling does get better knowing the time tables and just get on with it I suppose, its not long now just waiting on lawyer to hear what he thinks I should do too