Drink Driving Offence

[carajack]

Looking for advice on a drink driving charge. I was put in a 'situation' with an ex that resulted in me driving to her house late at night and breaking in to her front door as she wouldn't answer the phone. Stupid I know. On arrival at her house, I attempted to call her, however she wouldn't answer the phone. I therefore sat outside the house for a while pondering what to do. I had, had a few drinks throughout the day however not enough to put me over the limit. I did however have a bottle of spirit in my car, and proceeded to drink it outside her house. On breaking the door, the police were called who attended the premises and arrested me. I was breathalysed and found to be over the limit at the police station. My ex has given a statement to say she witnessed me drive up to the house as she was falling asleep and the police are now taking court action for drink driving. I didn't comment on any of the events on the night and am due in court in a few weeks.

Is there a valid case to ban me for drink driving because I was in possession of my car keys, with my vehicle outside the house when the police arrived? I had already thrown the bottle of drink before they arrested me.

I am fully aware this makes me sound like a thug, however there had been on going issues and the 'situation' on this particular night left me angered. I don't have any previous and this is completely out of character.

 

[badtime]

sorry to hear about your situation. Were you inside the car or by any means driving when the police arrived and arrested you? What is the charge on the piece of paper given by the police? Is it drunk in charge or driving under the influence of alcohol. A lot depends on the circumstances in which you were arrested and the charge involved. Also pop a question in ask a lawyer section, they will be in a much better situation to clarify your question but do explain the charge and also whether you were driving or were in inside the vehicle at the time of arrest.

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

Hi carajack,
You will need to clarify what exact offence(s) that you have been charged with.
There are two alternatives (or you could be charged with both as alternative offences):

1. Drink Driving: If there is evidence you have driven a car shortly before you provided a sample of breath then there is a presumption in law that the alcohol level in the sample provided was the alcohol level at the time that you drove. The burden of proof then switches to you, as the defendant, to demonstrate that it was not and that the alcohol level is as a result of post driving consumption. This is colloquially called a "hip flask defence". You must have a forensic report which calculates what your alcohol level was at the time you drove which will be based on various factors such as your physical characteristics (gender, size, etc) and the amount and the time of all alcohol consumed. The forensic scientist can then confirm whether or not you were over the prescribed legal limit at the time you drove. This evidence is essential. The costs of such a report can vary but a specialist drink driving solicitor will be able to provide access to the best rates from the best experts in the field. If convicted of drink driving a disqualification is mandatory.

2. Drunk in charge: It will be very easy for the prosecution to prove you were drunk and that you were "in charge" of a vehicle. The keys being in your pocket and the vehicle parked close by is enough. Again , in this case the burden switches to you as the defendant to prove that there was no likelihood of you driving whilst you were over the prescribed limit. You would have to firstly satisfy the court when the earliest possibility of you driving in the future would have arisen and then show that you would have been under the limit at that time. An expert report is still required as in (1) above to prove what your alcohol level would have been at the earliest time you say you may have driven. If convicted of Drunk in Charge a ban is discretionary (not mandatory), the alternative to a ban is the imposition of 10 penalty points.

It's possible you could be charged with both offences as alternatives. This means the court can convict you of either one of the offences. Even if only charged with one offence the court have a discretion to convict you of the alternative so you need to prepare your case and defence in relation to both.

It's always important to use a solicitor to instruct an expert witness. This is because if you instruct the expert directly then any information or correspondence you provide are not legally privileged and the prosecution or court could insist that you disclose this as part of the evidence in the case. If a solicitor instructs the expert on your behalf it is legally privileged information and you cannot be made to disclose this. These are important factors.

If you would like further advice or information about fixed fees for arranging legal representation and expert reports then please contact our national drink driving helpline on 0333 344 4889.