Help! Advice needed

[ConfusedSue]

I got a phone call from the police yesterday to tell me my husband had driven the car into metal railings, that they suspected he had been drinking but he was unresponsive. He was taken to our local hospital to be checked over.
When I arrived I was told there were no signs of any injury and he had been arrested for failure to provide a breath specimen at the scene.
About an hour later a police surgeon arrived to take a blood sample.
my husband was clearly not aware of what was actually happening and I told the police surgeon that I didn't think he understood what he was being told or asked but as my husband held out his arm and said do what you like the sample was taken.
he was then asked to sign a form by the arresting officers which he didn't do and again I told them I didn't think he understood what he was being asked.
they had originally told me he would taken to the local police station and held in the cells overnight until they were satisfied he was sober but changed their minds and left him at the hospital with me for a couple of hours and he was then sent home.
the police officers have only told me that he will be given a court date but they couldn't give me any idea of timescale or when we would be notified of the blood results.
my husband doesn't even remember being in hospital but is terrified (as am I) that he could be given a prison sentence.

he has had a clean driving licence for 21 years and this is first drink driving offence. He has had problems with alcohol in the past but stopped drinking 2 years ago. However he lost his mum last year closely followed with his gran being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. After a long painful battle, she died at the end of June. He has not been coping well with this and to add to the stress I am 6 months pregnant and have severely limited mobility due to pregnancy related pelvic pain. He is a full time student, working nightshift and looking after me and has not been sleeping well. I think he snapped yesterday and drank a half bottle of vodka before getting back in the car to drive the 5 minute car journey home


how likely is a custodial sentence for a first offence and if not is he likely to face a long ban. I have also seen that max fine is £5000 but he only earns £120 per week and I'm going on maternity leave soon.

I don't condone what he has done but is a huge likely to take into account his personal circumstances and also that he is going to go back to his GP and ask for Disulfarim meaning he won't be able to drink even if he was tempted


sorry for the long post but I am beside myself at the idea of him going to prison when we have a baby on the way and I have no idea how we would pay a huge fine

 

[price1367]

Firstly let me put your mind at rest about custody.
if your husband did drink half a bottle of vodka, and if it was all in his system (we have no idea of timescales to judge this) then his reading would be close to 3 times the legal limit. Whilst this is clearly bad, it is within the range for a community order to be imposed, NOT for a custodial sentence.
The blood result is likely to take up to 6 weeks to come back. As your husband was not under arrest but dealt with at the hospital then the police will be likely to issue a summons for the offence of drink driving, but this could take another few weeks. It would be a good idea to contact the officer dealing in 5 or 6 weeks to try and find out the result.
You may feel that your husband did not understand what was happening, but it will be down to the opinion of the Police surgeon. He is not going to stick a needle in a persons arm without consent ( unless he is unconscious, but that is a different circumstance) and as your husband held out his arm and said "do what you want" it would, I feel, amount to informed consent.
At 3 times the limit, the guideline ban is 23 to 28 months. The fine is a maximum of £5000 but is actually based on income and is likely to be one and a half times his weekly income, plus a £20 'victim surcharge'.

 

[stupid1982]

Hi I have just been to court for drink driving, I also crashed the car into bollards. I was nearly 3 and a half times over the limit I had been at a hen party all day so I was drinking for 12 hours. Court last tuesday and I received a 24 month ban which can be reduced to 18 by doing the drink driving rehabilitation course. I also received 100 hours community service. When arrested they took blood from me too and it took six weeks for the results to come bk and then another month for my court date.

 

[ConfusedSue]

Firstly let me put your mind at rest about custody.
if your husband did drink half a bottle of vodka, and if it was all in his system (we have no idea of timescales to judge this) then his reading would be close to 3 times the legal limit. Whilst this is clearly bad, it is within the range for a community order to be imposed, NOT for a custodial sentence.
The blood result is likely to take up to 6 weeks to come back. As your husband was not under arrest but dealt with at the hospital then the police will be likely to issue a summons for the offence of drink driving, but this could take another few weeks. It would be a good idea to contact the officer dealing in 5 or 6 weeks to try and find out the result.
You may feel that your husband did not understand what was happening, but it will be down to the opinion of the Police surgeon. He is not going to stick a needle in a persons arm without consent ( unless he is unconscious, but that is a different circumstance) and as your husband held out his arm and said "do what you want" it would, I feel, amount to informed consent.
At 3 times the limit, the guideline ban is 23 to 28 months. The fine is a maximum of £5000 but is actually based on income and is likely to be one and a half times his weekly income, plus a £20 'victim surcharge'.

thanks for your reply. Would the one and half times income for the fine still apply if his reading is as high as we think? Also would he get community service and a fine or would it be one or the other?

if he has had more than I think and his reading is high enough to be classed as a high risk offender is there a possibility of a custodial sentence and if so would me being heavily pregnant by then be likely to have any impact on the judges decision?

 

[ConfusedSue]

Hi I have just been to court for drink driving, I also crashed the car into bollards. I was nearly 3 and a half times over the limit I had been at a hen party all day so I was drinking for 12 hours. Court last tuesday and I received a 24 month ban which can be reduced to 18 by doing the drink driving rehabilitation course. I also received 100 hours community service. When arrested they took blood from me too and it took six weeks for the results to come bk and then another month for my court date.

Thanks for for your reply. It's a long time to have it hanging over you isn't it? If it takes 10 weeks for his court date like yours did I will be 8 1/2 months pregnant!!

 

[price1367]

The one and a half times multiplier will probably be what is used, even at a quite high reading - AND in addition to the community order. If the result is at or over 2 1/2 times the legal limit (200 in blood) then yes, he is classed as a high risk offender and will have to do a medical before he gets his licence back.
any disqualification that he gets can be reduced by up to 25% if he agrees to do a drink drive rehabilitation course after conviction.
the magistrates must consider custody for a reading of 120 or above... I would not expect it to be that high based on what you said he drank.
the. The court do take into account his circumstances when deciding the sentence, but with him being involved in an accident, they are not likely to go below the minimum in the range, which is 23 months.