Expected ban?

[AM20004]

Hi, I was rear ended in my car saturday night by a drunk driver, when I was stationary. He ran away, I phoned the police and they attended the schene and caught the driver. They breathalised me also and I was over which was a shock, as i only had two pints. Blew 57 at the police station. However machine wasnt working properly when I got there, but the sorted it. Both me and my girlfriend were injured in the collision.

My question would you plead guilty or use a speciallist firm like Geoffery Miller?

Also what am I likely to receive in regards to a ban? I do have 4 points for speeding. It was 37mph in a 30 zone. Only reason i have 4 points is paperwork was lost and it went to court were I accepted full responsibilty.

Thanks for your time in advance.

 

[price1367]

For a reading of 57, you are likely to get a ban of 12-16 months, with a fine according to your income, Prosecution costs of £85 and a 'victim surcharge' of £20 or 10% of your fine, whichever is greater.

you can approach a specialist solicitor if you have the money to spend on a defence to see if there is something wrong with the Police procedure, Sean who posts on this forum is a drink drive expert solicitor and he can give you some idea of what a defence case might cost, but do you think that there was anything wrong with what happened? It can be expensive to employ a solicitor to go on a 'fishing expedition' looking for something wrong, only to be told that you need to plead guilty in the end.

i am not too sure that your numbers add up. You say you had 2 pints, but of what? A reading of 57 is about 8 units of alcohol actually in your system at the time you were tested at the police station. You also have to allow for units that you would have eliminated at the rate of about 1 unit an hour after you started drinking and before you were tested. 2 pints of, say, Stella would be 6 units so I think you must have misscounted somewhere.
The points for speeding will not affect the outcome of the Drink driving. I would be surprised though if you got 4 points for speeding at 37 in a 30, unless there were some exceptional circumstances. The norm for that is 3 points up to about 42-44mph.

 

[Forum Moderator]

Hi, I was rear ended in my car saturday night by a drunk driver, when I was stationary. He ran away, I phoned the police and they attended the schene and caught the driver. They breathalised me also and I was over which was a shock, as i only had two pints. Blew 57 at the police station. However machine wasnt working properly when I got there, but the sorted it. Both me and my girlfriend were injured in the collision.

My question would you plead guilty or use a speciallist firm like Geoffery Miller?

Also what am I likely to receive in regards to a ban? I do have 4 points for speeding. It was 37mph in a 30 zone. Only reason i have 4 points is paperwork was lost and it went to court were I accepted full responsibilty.

Thanks for your time in advance.

Upon conviction of driving with excess alcohol and a breath reading of 57 magistrates sentencing guidelines suggest a band C fine and a driving disqualification of between 12 and 16 months.

The majority of first time offenders are usually offered the opportunity to take the drink driving rehabilitation course. Completing the course will award you with a reduction of up to 25% off the period of any disqualification imposed.

A solicitor could examine all evidence in order to see if correct procedure was followed and advise you further, they could also put together a well structured plea of mitigation in order to try and keep any sentence to a minimum.

Unless there is a procedural error which renders evidence inadmissible or special reasons not to disqualify can be successfully put forward to the court then a disqualification is inevitable.

The decision as to whether or not to instruct a specialist solicitor is one only you can make.

Our guide to appearing at magistrates court for drink driving offences may prove useful to you.

Let us know how you get on at court.