Drink driving and aggravating factors

[DaveRam]

Hello,

I have recently been caught drink driving and have a 86 breath specimen. I saw the police at the side of the road when I passed them they followed me. I pulled down a side street and got out the car and ran down the street.

This only ended up me being arrested, doing a road side test, being taken to the station and and doing two more breath tests. The specimen was 86, I then continued to do my prints and then put me in a cell for 3-4 hours.

After that I did anther specimen where I was under the limit. I was charged with drink driving and able to leave the police station.

My paper work does not mention anything apart from drink driving. Will they use the aggregating factors against me? Would I be told about them before hand or only on the day? How will this effect my sentencing?

Thanks ?

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

With a breath reading of 86µg of alcohol per 100ml of breath, you will fall into the third of four sentencing brackets. This sentencing bracket is for breath readings from 60 through to 89, therefore you will fall towards the top end of this bracket.

There are two stages to the sentencing for this offence.

Firstly, if you plead guilty, or are convicted of the offence, you will be disqualified from driving. Your sentencing bracket advises a disqualification from 17 to 22 months. Pleading guilty will not automatically reduce the driving disqualification. However, you may be eligible for the drink drive rehabilitation course which can reduce the disqualification by up to 25%.

Secondly, the court will consider a punitive element to the sentence. For a reading of 86µg of alcohol per 100ml of breath the court will consider the imposition of a fine up OR a community order. The fine would be from 125%-175% of your relevant weekly income, or the court may impose a low level community order. If you plead guilty at the first available opportunity, you will receive a reduction of up to one third in this stage of the sentencing.

The fact that you attempted to run is likely to be used as an aggravating factor by the court when considering penalty and it will likely result in your being considered higher up the sentencing bracket you fall into.

Should you require more detailed advice, you can contact one of our team on 0333 200 9857