Any advice

[him_indoors]

Having spent a quiet evening in on Saturday my wife went out late to pick up our daughter from a party. We later determined she had consumed 3 drinks through the evening, a weak G&T and 2 small glasses of wine over a period of about 4 1/2 hours. It did not even occur to her that she might be close to the limit on leaving the house. 5 minutes down the road she was pulled over by the police and breathalyzed. She gave a positive test and was taken in for further testing. She was by now distraught and in a state of shock. She accepted the offer of advice from a solicitor but was unable to speak to him until after further breath testing. She gave a positive breath test of 47. The police said to her that if she did not believe the result she could have a blood or urine test but because she was still in a state of shock and just wanted to get out, she declined. She then spoke to the solicitor on the phone. He advised her to take the blood/urine test as she seemed so sober but upset. He spoke to the arresting officer who refused to allow my wife the option having already declined. The solicitor phoned back again after a few minutes virtually pleading to let her have the other test but again the officer refused.
She will have to attend court in 3 weeks. I am worried about her mental state as she is really not coping well with what's happened. The police will not give us the name of the solicitor who advised her on the night so we do not know if he feels the police have acted unfairly on the night concerned. As things stand my wife will get a 12 month ban but I fear more for her mental state if this gets in the local paper. I myself still cannot believe she was actually over the limit considering what she had consumed. My wife is very anaemic and I have read that this can be a factor but I'm not sure why. Any ideas gratefully received. Thanks.

 

[new_pedestrian]

There are solicitors here who can give you better legal advice, but my layman's opinion is this:

The legal limit is 35mg/100ml of breath, but the police don't prosecute unless someone blows over 40. If the reading is under 50mg they offer the option of the blood or urine test. I think that all the police are required to do there is offer the option once.

If it's refused when they offer it, they've done their bit and they don't have to let you change your mind later. It would be a bit daft for them if they did, since they're just giving a person more time for alcohol to leave their system if they let them go home and then come back later for the blood test. If they did allow changes of heart, where would the cutoff point be for how long you have to change your mind?

So my humble and non-expert opinion is that with a 47mg/100ml breath reading as the evidence against her, your wife will unfortunately be best off pleading guilty and taking the 12-month ban. She will most likely be offered the Drink Driving Rehabilitation Course, which reduces the ban by 25% and in this case would see her back behind the wheel after 9 months.

Best of luck.

 

[ed1976]

I was convicted on a breath test of 53. I was told by the police officer that if it's below 50 they normally let you off with a warning. Good luck.

 

[price1367]

I was convicted on a breath test of 53. I was told by the police officer that if it's below 50 they normally let you off with a warning. Good luck.

That is not true. If your reading is between 40 and 50 inclusive, they have to offer you the opportunity of having the breath test result replaced with a blood or urine sample. (Police choice which one it will be) if that sample comes back over, or you decline the option, then you ARE prosecuted.
if your reading is 35 to 39, then the Association of Chief Police Officers' guidelines is that no further action should be taken.
I see you have also asked in the other section to this forum about the drink drive rehabilitation course, and points on your licence.
the DDRS course has to be offered on the day you are sentenced. It is offered at the discretion of the court.
As you were not offered it on the day, it is not possible for it to be offered even a day later. The legal rules on the course are quite strict.
your licence will carry the endorsement DR10 when you get it back after a drink drive ban. There are no points associated with this offence as it is a straight ban.