Drink Driving & Failing to Stop/Report an Accident - First time offence

[darko]

Hi

I have been charged with a drink drive offence which on the 16/1/16 in the early hours. I had come home and stupidly thought I was able to drive to get some food and ended up bumping into the back of a car and drove off as I was petrified of my actions. around an hour later the police had knocked on my door and arrested me as my breath test was 90 or around that sum. I was then drove to the police station and had to spend the night there I was then breath tested on arrival to the police station and if I remember rightly I was read at around 85 then in the morning I was breath tested again and was a reading of around 41 in which then not so long after I was interviewed and I chose to do this without a solicitor as I felt ashamed of my actions and didn't feel I deserved any help.

I have now therefore been convicted of 2 offences one of drink driving over the limit and the second failing to report an accident and stopping. I am due in court the 3rd of march and wanting to plee guilty. I am also self employed and had to use my car to commute to work and back and therefore am looking at probably having to give up my job and am also worried about wether I will be able to pay any fines (etc). As for any other factors I suffer from anxiety and depression therefore im looking for support in the court room and guessing that someone wont be able to speak on my behalf?

what kind of fees am I looking at for a solicitor? I also cant let this be publicised where I live as I have a solid reputation to hold regarding my wellbeing and state of mind. I am also not wanting to go to prison as I have been made aware that sometimes that can be the case. I have never had a criminal record before neither have I had any driving offences.

if someone can get back to me asap I would highly appreciate it

thanks

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

For a first offence with a breath reading of 85 the Magistrates sentencing guidelines advise the imposition of a 17-22 month disqualification and a Band C fine. Alongside this the Court will typically offer the drink drive rehabilitation course which will reduce the length of the disqualification by up to 25% upon completion. Your reading would not place you at any risk of a custodial sentence as the Court will normally only consider this for readings of 120 and over.

If you would like someone to speak on your behalf at Court then you would need to have a solicitor representing you, either someone that you have privately instructed or the duty solicitor who will at Court on the day. There is a risk on relying on the duty solicitor as they are not always available to represent you in the hearing and this depends on how busy they are that day, the advantage is of course that their assistance is free. For my department to assist the fees would be fixed at £800 + VAT (£960) which would cover the full preparation of the case and representation at Court by a barrister.

There is unfortunately no way to ban the press from reporting on this case should they wish to do so. The case is a matter of public record and if they look into the matter they may wish to publish the details. That being said I have acted for a number of business owners and very few have their case reported on in the local papers, normally the case has to be outside the norm for the press to be interested.