Help please?

[digby87]

Hi, i need some advice. I have been stopped for drink driving and bailed to appear in court. This is what happened...On Friday night i was in the pub drinking and had made arrangements to stay at my dads less than a mile up the road. I had messaged my girlfriend half an hour prior to all the trouble, saying i was leaving the pub to walk to dads shortly so she knew i was ok and not home yet. Approx ten minutes after this, 3 local travellers were in the pub, one of which i knew as he was the dad of a traveller boy i have had trouble from before. i said hello, so he aknowledged i was there and so there were no akward situations. i was getting ready to leave, when i remembered i had a laptop and a drill on the back seat of my car, which i intended to put in the boot so it wasnt seen in my car over night. upon leaving the pub, i was asked by this person for a lift home (he lived just around the corner from my dad). At this point, i made the decision to just say yes, as i have had trouble with that family before and i know how unpredictable they can be. Saying no did not seem like a good option at the time, considering i was on my own. We drove around the corner, where i dropped him off, then pulled out to just get to my dads so i was safe (2 second drive). At this point, the police were sitting there and pulled me over. i blew 65 road side and my lowest was 81 about an hour later at the station. I am worried about what will happen next and what to expect from court? I had every intention of walking home to my dads that night, but felt the decision i made at the time was in my best interest. I fully co-operated with police and explained the situation to them fully. this is also my first time after 7 years of clean driving of ever being in any trouble. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[price1367]

It is possible to put forward "special reasons" to the court for a drink driver to not be disqualified. The circumstances have to relate to the journey that you took, not special circumstances about you or the need for you to be able to drive.
the main "special reasons" are:
1. That a driver only drove a minimal distance and that because of the time and / or location, there was no risk of a member of the public being harmed. You have been vague about the distances, you dad lives about a mile from the pub..... You drove round the corner to drop the traveller off..... Then went to your dads house - 2 second drive. Now 2 seconds, from stationary, is 30 or 40 yards. Is that really the distance or in reality is it more? More than 50 - 60 yards would probably NOT amount to special reasons.
2. It was necessary to get away from an imminent and real threat of harm. You may well have genuine concerns about this person but spoke to him in the pub and allowed him into your car. I think that unless you can show that you had been the victim of violence from him recently then you may well struggle to convince the court that The circumstances that you were in was sufficient to be classed as "special reasons"

you then have the problem that having dropped him off, and the threat was over, you continued to drive for your own convenience to get to your dads house (distance?) that was not under fear of violence, but the distance part is out of the window also if the police are aware that you drove a mile from the pub.
one last thing, did you tell the police about your fear and why you had driven as soon as you were spoken to? This might tend to support your claim, but if you did not mention it then it causes your claim a lot of harm.

all in all, from the account you have presented, you would be better off pleading guilty to drink driving with the circumstances and your intention to not drive being put forward in mitigation. For a reading of 81 you can expect a ban of 17-22 months, and a fine. The ban can be reduced by up to 25% if you are offered, and accept on the day, the chance to attend a Drink Drive Rehabilitation Course.

i see you have also asked Sean, the resident solicitor the same question. He is excellent on all aspects of drink driving law so he may have seen something in your story that I have missed, but as I see it, there is no way out of a ban.