Cannot afford to have a criminal record - The please fight for it

[badtime]

I have to say that once I was caught & charged for drink driving this forum taught me a lot. One thing it however did do was make me feel that I didn't have a chance in hell of getting out of the mess I was in. The official blood test result was 170mg in blood. I was loosing the battle of my life and I decided I was going to fight for my life. I made a mistake but apart from that I have been a good citizen. I dont drive like a lunatic although I am young and have a good fast car. I haven't ever had a point in my license and I never broke the law otherwise. More than loosing my license which although could have had an adverse impact on my day to day life and my occupation the one thing I couldn't live with was a criminal record. And a DUI stays for 11 years. So I decided I will take my chances and instruct the best possible lawyer. It is not the one's that you will find in a google search but one that I found out after 10's of phone calls. I am writing this so that people here for once give you hope instead of pushing you down the suicidal path. If you go through my threads you will understand the horrible journey I have been through from Sept 2013 to May 2014 - yes I finally won the case.

I had made a mistake but the sentence that I was facing I certainly believed wasn't justified. Everyone deserves at least one chance but on offer there was none. I can share details of the case to anyone willing to fight for their life but please if you are a repeat offender or have been involved in an accident where you have done damage to life or property I would ask you to judge yourself and take the punishment on the chin. For those you found themselves in a situation like myself all I can say is if you can afford it please do give yourself a chance. I cannot promise that everyone can win a case but somehow my lawyers and my barrister made a case on the day of the trial prove there was no case to be judged upon.

Goodluck, there is hope if you seek help and please some people are almost in the brink of loosing everything so if you have stories where you have realised your mistake and fought for your life do share it otherwise there is a lot of doom and gloom in this forum

 

[ukboxer]

Personally I am not a fan of posts such as these at all.

You give the impression you were innocent of drink driving and justice prevailed. However, you havent denied the fact that you were caught drink driving at over twice the legal limit. Is it fair to say there was no case to prove as a key witness didnt turn up?

Instead of giving others false hope of 'getting one up' on the system and due to the fact that you got off on technicalities, perhaps you should simply say you were VERY lucky and advise people to never even contemplate drink driving?

It is also not right of you to suggest that those involved in an accident or are a repeat offender should 'take it on the chin', perhaps YOU should have taken it on the chin instead of paying £6000 for representation? Perhaps, also, you should take responsibility for your own actions before you judge the circumstances of others who have been caught drink driving as you were.

 

[badtime]

Personally I am not a fan of posts such as these at all.

You give the impression you were innocent of drink driving and justice prevailed. However, you havent denied the fact that you were caught drink driving at over twice the legal limit. Is it fair to say there was no case to prove as a key witness didnt turn up?

Instead of giving others false hope of 'getting one up' on the system and due to the fact that you got off on technicalities, perhaps you should simply say you were VERY lucky and advise people to never even contemplate drink driving?

It is also not right of you to suggest that those involved in an accident or are a repeat offender should 'take it on the chin', perhaps YOU should have taken it on the chin instead of paying £6000 for representation? Perhaps, also, you should take responsibility for your own actions before you preach to others.

Sincere apologies if you feel I was encouraging the act of drink driving or even acting smug. I only posted on this forum because it did help me a lot about what happens next after one is charged. Like I said, if given a chance everyone would perhaps like to hear if there is a glimmer of hope. I am not promoting false hope either but some people like to have second chance. Again sorry if I have offended you, I understand if I was convicted or even seriously condemn the offence I would not be amused that there could be an option. I think I was lucky but I also believe at no point my lawyers advised me to cook up lies. They played by the books like the police did. In their eyes, they were quite bemused at my misery in my eyes I thought I deserved a second chance. I agree that you wont accept my views but everyday in this forum people turn for help and all I am saying is that there is two sides to any story.

 

[badtime]

Also, I would like to apologise again for the statement - It is also not right of you to suggest that those involved in an accident or are a repeat offender should 'take it on the chin', perhaps YOU should have taken it on the chin instead of paying £6000 for representation? Perhaps, also, you should take responsibility for your own actions before you judge the circumstances of others who have been caught drink driving as you were.

It was uncalled for an basically nullifies everything I said, if I could I would take it back, its like a crook accusing a thief. Sole purpose of this post was to help people in need, although actually on the hindsight I must have offended more people than helped anyone out.

 

[ukboxer]

Im not offended nor do I think you are encouraging drink drink driving. I just dont think at lot of your initial post needed to be said and didnt like how it was worded but hey thats just my opinion. Others may pat you on the back and say "Well Done!" I'm just not one of them.

Ofcouse if someone has a genuine defence then they should plead not guilty and be defended by representation. I dont want people thinking that if they plead not guilty then they will have hope of beating the system. You were extremely lucky not to be found guilty and no case to answer is very rare and cannot be predicted (hence the false hope).

I would advise everyone to dissect every detail of the circumstances of their arrest as procedural improprieties do happen and can lead to acquittal, no further action or no case to answer however, relying on an unforeseen stroke of luck does not constituent help or advice it is just what happened in your case.

In reality it is very hard to 'get off' a charge of drink driving.

If I had been caught drink driving such as a recent poster at 81ml blood reading (the absolute minimum for prosecution) I would be aggrieved reading your post knowing you were over twice the legal limit and have received no punishment where as they are looking at a 12 month ban. How is that fair and just?

For that reason, I dont think its right to tell others to 'take it on the chin' when you didn't.

 

[chris125]

I have to say that once I was caught & charged for drink driving this forum taught me a lot. One thing it however did do was make me feel that I didn't have a chance in hell of getting out of the mess I was in. The official blood test result was 170mg in blood. I was loosing the battle of my life and I decided I was going to fight for my life. I made a mistake but apart from that I have been a good citizen. I dont drive like a lunatic although I am young and have a good fast car. I haven't ever had a point in my license and I never broke the law otherwise. More than loosing my license which although could have had an adverse impact on my day to day life and my occupation the one thing I couldn't live with was a criminal record. And a DUI stays for 11 years. So I decided I will take my chances and instruct the best possible lawyer. It is not the one's that you will find in a google search but one that I found out after 10's of phone calls. I am writing this so that people here for once give you hope instead of pushing you down the suicidal path. If you go through my threads you will understand the horrible journey I have been through from Sept 2013 to May 2014 - yes I finally won the case.

I had made a mistake but the sentence that I was facing I certainly believed wasn't justified. Everyone deserves at least one chance but on offer there was none. I can share details of the case to anyone willing to fight for their life but please if you are a repeat offender or have been involved in an accident where you have done damage to life or property I would ask you to judge yourself and take the punishment on the chin. For those you found themselves in a situation like myself all I can say is if you can afford it please do give yourself a chance. I cannot promise that everyone can win a case but somehow my lawyers and my barrister made a case on the day of the trial prove there was no case to be judged upon.

Goodluck, there is hope if you seek help and please some people are almost in the brink of loosing everything so if you have stories where you have realised your mistake and fought for your life do share it otherwise there is a lot of doom and gloom in this forum

badtime
Does your "everyone deserves a second chance" theme also extend to murderers, rapists and paedophiles? Or does it reach a point where a second chance is not deserved?
You have clearly got off on a technicality having blown twice the limit yet you talk about your good fortune in a manner that sounds as if it is your automatic entitlement to escape the wrath of the law.
You also make the point that the sentence you were facing wasn't justified. In what way would it not have been justified if it is the law?
You talk about the actual outcome of your case as if it was the correct one when in reality it was a smart barrister and a forgetful medical practitioner which combined to let you walk free. Most people don't have the resources to hire such a lawyer. I wonder why the medical practitioner forgot/failed to turn up too. That's surprising.
Anyway, to cap it all you find it appropriate to devalue the very forum which you have admitted to helping you in so many ways. Did you ever hear the phrase, "Don't bite the hand that feeds you"? There are many people who find this forum to be invaluable, both in the lead up to their court case and with help in picking up the pieces afterwards. You should be more grateful for the help that you were given at a time when you really needed it.
I hope you have learned your lesson well and I do hope you will think twice about committing the same offence again somewhere down the line, but your post suggests that you honestly believe you did nothing wrong in the first place and you deserved to get off with the charge. It's almost as if you are shrugging your shoulders at the law with a quiet snigger to yourself at the same time and in life it usually happens that people with such a reckless attitude come undone later on. I hope for your own sake that you prove me wrong.

 

[mr perfect]

What i have just read makes me feel sick, there should be no second chances, getting behind the wheel with ANY alcohol in you is like having a loaded gun waiting to go off. I`m most certain this joker will kill someone or himself, its about time there was a zero tolerance on drinking alcohol and driving even a drunk passenger is a distraction to the vehicle operator and should not be aloud in the car, alcohol and car`s do not mix, driving a car is privilege not your right, if it was up to me convicted drink drivers would never EVER drive again EVER. a heavy jail sentence would still not be enough its one of the worst crimes on earth and people are still doing it.

 

[chris125]

........if it was up to me convicted drink drivers would never EVER drive again EVER. a heavy jail sentence would still not be enough......

Although I agree that you're entitled to it I think your opinion is a bit extreme, mr perfect, when speaking about first time offenders. I believe the punishment given out is severe enough and often has harsh consequences for the offender. And rightly so too. I am inclined to look upon your thoughts with a bit more understanding when it comes to repeat offenders.

 

[badtime]

I have clearly very badly worded it and instead of perhaps helping people I have instead spread the wrong message.
So can the moderator please remove this thread so that it stops people getting the wrong message.

Again, someone said that I was slagging off the forum. The very reason I came back to post in the forum after my trial is because I hoped my experience will help some members looking for some legal case study. Again, my loud mouth got the better off me and I didn't spread the right message. Think what you want, but I know the importance of this forum, it acted as a sole guide when I had nothing to look upon.

Just to let you know why I think I deserved a second chance. First of all I do not agree with every law in the country and I am pretty sure that a debate takes place when any law is introduced by 'chosen members of the public'. I would have been comfortable if a drink driving sentence involved a ban for 1st time offenders but I do not agree that a criminal record be attached to the offenders history that stays for 11 years. There are plenty of people who drive in the fast lane in the motorway and tailgate people to a foot if not inches. Result in accidents (often life threatening) are a daily occurrence. The punishment when an accident happens is that the driver at fault sees an increase in their premium for the following year and looses their no claims bonus.

I should have never done what I did. But unfortunately I did it. Under the circumstances I drove the car less than half a mile back to home well under the speed restrictions. I pulled up on my driveway. Police were patrolling the area and just because it was late at night and it was a Saturday(/sunday morning) they decided to do a routine check and I was questioned and then arrested as I admitted to having a few drinks.

Anyway, I realise I am not spreading the right message because I thought this forum was mainly for drivers that 'have recently been caught' but also include Samaritans like Mr perfect. My intention was to help those drivers without actually thinking that it will offend some righteous people.

Nonetheless Moderator can you please please remove this thread? It is definitely not spreading the right message surely not from my 1st post. I wish everyone all the best and thanks again for this forum