Incredibly stupid !!!!!!!!!!

Convicted Driver Insurance

bigalr

New Member
Hi,
I was arrested and charged with drug driving. The drug is not illegal and the police removed it from my vehicle. I was taken to the station and after an hour or so, I was asked to do an impairement test, which I passed. I was then charged and released. No blood, urine or breathilizer samples were taken. Can I be prosecuted?? What I did was incredibly stupid and it's ripping me apart.
 
The police could give evidence of your impaired driving that they observed, but they would have to link it to the drug as being the cause of your impairment. That could be difficult without a sample of some kind.
Were you examined by a Police Surgeon? if so, what did he say?
What type of impairment test was carried out and where was it done?
What was the name of the drug that was recovered, legal high..... prescription, over the counter? was it being taken at the recommended dose?
Were you interviewed and what did you say you had taken and when?
It is the norm in suspected drug impairment cases to put you on the breath test machine at the station, to rule out alcohol, but you say this was not done. Were you given a screening breath test at the roadside?
Why were you stopped in the first place?
 
price1367 said:
The police could give evidence of your impaired driving that they observed, but they would have to link it to the drug as being the cause of your impairment. That could be difficult without a sample of some kind. I was not driving. I was parked at the side of the road.
Were you examined by a Police Surgeon? if so, what did he say? I was examined by the police doctor who said I was fine.
What type of impairment test was carried out and where was it done? It was the standard impairement test and it was carried out at the police station
What was the name of the drug that was recovered, legal high..... prescription, over the counter? was it being taken at the recommended dose?I'm disgusted to say that it was a solvent.
Were you interviewed and what did you say you had taken and when? I was interviewed in the police car and admitted doing it
It is the norm in suspected drug impairment cases to put you on the breath test machine at the station, to rule out alcohol, but you say this was not done. Were you given a screening breath test at the roadside? As mentioned, no screening at all was done.
Why were you stopped in the first place? I was parked at the side of the road.
Click to expand...
 
This is an unusual case.
whilst I agree that it was not a wise thing to do, it may not amount to an offence for which you can be convicted.
It will hinge on how the police describe your behaviour at the scene. They will have to establish to the court that you were unfit to be in charge of a motor vehicle (you will have been charged with that offence, rather than than drug driving)
the effects of solvent abuse only last for a short time. That is why the doctor found you to be OK and you passed an impairment test.
it is open to you to put forward the defence that you would not have driven the vehicle whilst under the influence of drugs. This could depend on where you were in relation to your home, what time it was and other factors. Can you show that you were not likely to drive for an hour or two?

In charge offences do not carry a compulsory ban, the magistrates have discretion. But if they do not ban you, then the offence carries 10 points. The other downside is that any in charge offence that states 'unfit through drugs' does not have the option to be referred to the Drink Drive Rehabilitation scheme, so any ban imposed would not have the option of a reduction by completing the course.
 
Thanks for the reply.

I freely admitted to doing it in the car. I fully co-operated with the police and was not handcuffed or anything like that. They removed the evidence, took me to the station and I was placed in a cell until the doctor arrived. He examined me and I was then returned to the cell. I was then taken for fingerprinting, DNA sampling and photographed. I was then told of the charge, given my belongings, including my car keys, and released.
 
Even though you were using solvents in the car, it does not stop you putting forward the defence of "not likely to drive whilst still unfit."
can you confirm that the offence listed by the police is "IN CHARGE of a motor vehicle whilst unfit through drugs"?
have you considered the points I raised before about proximity to home and when you can show you would probably not drive before?
 
Thanks again.Even though you were using solvents in the car, it does not stop you putting forward the defence of "not likely to drive whilst still unfit."
can you confirm that the offence listed by the police is "IN CHARGE of a motor vehicle whilst unfit through drugs"? I've been charged with a DR80 offence. Maybe this is because the engine was running?
have you considered the points I raised before about proximity to home and when you can show you would probably not drive before? I certainly was notintending to drive whilst unfit but don't know how I can prove it? I was approx 10 min drive from my home.
 
What you have is evidence from the police and the police surgeon that you were not impaired, in your words: ''about an hour afterwards' This could be an hour after you were arrested in the car, or an hour after you arrived at the police station. Either way, you will have to show that during that time you had no likelihood of driving the car. It is an unusual case in that you actually have evidence as to the short period of time before you would not have been impaired.
What time of day / night was it?
How does that fit in with work? I.e. If it was your lunch break, there would be a presumption that you were going to drive back to work in a short time. If it was night time, and presumably cold, did you have any bedding in the car to show that you were sleeping in the car.
Why park up 10 minutes from home, why not inhale outside and you could then go in the house to bed? Was that due to you wanting to hide what you were doing from your family?
Was this a 'one off' or have you had a problem with solvents?
 
price1367 said:
What you have is evidence from the police and the police surgeon that you were not impaired, in your words: ''about an hour afterwards' This could be an hour after you were arrested in the car, or an hour after you arrived at the police station. Either way, you will have to show that during that time you had no likelihood of driving the car. It is an unusual case in that you actually have evidence as to the short period of time before you would not have been impaired.
What time of day / night was it?It was around 16:00 hrs
How does that fit in with work? I.e. If it was your lunch break, there would be a presumption that you were going to drive back to work in a short time. If it was night time, and presumably cold, did you have any bedding in the car to show that you were sleeping in the car.
Why park up 10 minutes from home, why not inhale outside and you could then go in the house to bed? Was that due to you wanting to hide what you were doing from your family? Yes, correct
Was this a 'one off' or have you had a problem with solvents? After being caught I did own up to having a problem. The morning after I contacted a drug addiction councillor and I've now had two sessions with him to try and find out why I did it...
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Enter code DRINKDRIVING10 during checkout for 10% off
Top