Drink driving on the school run

Convicted Driver Insurance

Concerned 101

New Member
This is my first ever forum post, so I apologise if I’m posting in the wrong place.

I’m looking for some advice regarding an incident which occurred recently.

My wife (we are separated) drove to school to collect our children while under the influence.

My older son called me to tell me that she was drunk. She had 4 children in the car, but luckily, she was prevented from driving with the children by people present, one of whom gave her and my two children a lift home.

The police attended our house, where she failed to use the breath test properly and was arrested for failure to provide and for being drunk in charge of a minor. There were two empty wine bottles in the bin and a third broken on the floor.

After this I know very little as she will not speak with me.

I know that she was detained for around 23 hours and that there are witnesses to the fact that she was wanting to drive and I think some people saw her arrive and park the car on the pavement. There will also be CCTV footage of the car but not of her driving.

I was wondering what will the likely charge be ? Drink driving Vs in charge.

What would the current time frame be given the covid delays ? And will I be able to find out what happens as it effects what happens with our children and what would the likely outcome be?

I have read the sentencing guidelines, for different alcohol levels but non include the failed to provide (and that saying a 12 month ban). Is failing to provide taken as the highest reading?

Thanks for your help and sorry if the post is too long.
 
This is my first ever forum post, so I apologise if I’m posting in the wrong place.

I’m looking for some advice regarding an incident which occurred recently.

My wife (we are separated) drove to school to collect our children while under the influence.

My older son called me to tell me that she was drunk. She had 4 children in the car, but luckily, she was prevented from driving with the children by people present, one of whom gave her and my two children a lift home.

The police attended our house, where she failed to use the breath test properly and was arrested for failure to provide and for being drunk in charge of a minor. There were two empty wine bottles in the bin and a third broken on the floor.

After this I know very little as she will not speak with me.

I know that she was detained for around 23 hours and that there are witnesses to the fact that she was wanting to drive and I think some people saw her arrive and park the car on the pavement. There will also be CCTV footage of the car but not of her driving.

I was wondering what will the likely charge be ? Drink driving Vs in charge.

What would the current time frame be given the covid delays ? And will I be able to find out what happens as it effects what happens with our children and what would the likely outcome be?

I have read the sentencing guidelines, for different alcohol levels but non include the failed to provide (and that saying a 12 month ban). Is failing to provide taken as the highest reading?

Thanks for your help and sorry if the post is too long.
Hi I’m not too sure what sentence she will get but I know she will be classed as HRO for failing to provide a breath test you should try and find price1367,grice or honestman on here they’re all really good hope this helps
 
Did your wife just fail to give a breath test at home, or did she in fact fait to provide a sample at the police station as well? if she failed at the police station she will have been charged with that, but it is also possible that she has been bailed whilst witness statements are obtained to confirm she was driving and will then be charged at a later date.
if she failed to supply, the minimum is 12 months disqualification.
The guidelines are that for failing to supply, but with good reason (but not a defence) 12 -16 months.
for simply failing to supply, it is 17-28 months and for failing to supply, with evidence of heavy intoxication, it is 29-36 months.
The fact that she was on a school run will aggravate the circumstances and increase the likely ban.

She is an adult and whilst I appreciate your interest because of the children, you are not entitled to know what the police are doing with her, or when she may appear in court.
Does she have insurance in her own right? If she is a named driver on your policy you should urgently consider removing her form the policy as if she has an accident whilst impaired, as reported on other threads on here, you could be held liable for the cost of third party damages as the policy holder.
I anticipate that Social services may be in touch with both of you to check on the welfare of the children because of the allegation of being “drunk in charge of a minor.” If you ask subtle questions of the social worker you may be able to tease out what is happening with your wife.......
 
Hi I’m not too sure what sentence she will get but I know she will be classed as HRO for failing to provide a breath test you should try and find price1367,grice or honestman on here they’re all really good hope this helps
For being a HRO (High Risk Offender) due to Failing to provide you can expect a ban between 12 - 30 months (aggravating factors - children in the car) plus a fine or community order. Upon completion of the ban she would need to undergo a DVLA medical test to prove recent controlled drinking , they may even write to the GP to find any issues/dependencies.. with Alcohol recorded with them.

Regarding Drunk in charge of a minor, bear in mind Social services may intervene (police will notify them of any cases involving childres)

Regarding court date, it depends where you are and what backlog the courts have. i would expect the court date to be within the next 3 - 9 months. Until then she would be able to drive.

I am not sure about penalty for Drunk in charge of a minor. Price may be able to help.
 
Thanks for the responses. Social services are now involved which is why I wanted to be kept informed of the court progress.

At present because they have deemed the children safe with me they are happy and I have to use my parental responsibility to keep them safe. She is a heavy drinker but will not admit to this, but I never thought she would drive when under the influence.


At present she is having supervised contact while information is gathered and the children are with me full time. But It looks like that process will be completed before any court appearance. My biggest fear is not being able to stop the children having overnight access again and then them coming to harm through her being drunk- as it looks like she is spinning out of control.

She is very convincing when she needs to be.
 
The fact that she was collecting them from school whilst apparently over the limit (or even drunk) at 3 o clock in the afternoon should mean that she is not allowed unsupervised access for a while. You should insist that she is not allowed unsupervised access while the drink drive case is pending..... and that might help you find out the outcome of her case!
 
I'm try to tread a fine line in protecting my children, without being seen to be a vindictive ex.

This wasn't a one off blip as she is making out - she told my son and the social worker that she only had a glass of wine.

I'm convinced that this wasn't the first time that she drove drunk- only the first time that she has been court. She wrote one car off in October and the new car is covered in dents.

It's the lack of insight and remorse that is concerning me that she will do it again.

A section 47 is underway but I'm not sure as to how much of her drinking it will uncover. I have found bottles of spirits hidden away over the last few years, but she always denied drinking (even when presented with the evidence) and I can't prove anything.
 
I'm try to tread a fine line in protecting my children, without being seen to be a vindictive ex.

This wasn't a one off blip as she is making out - she told my son and the social worker that she only had a glass of wine.

I'm convinced that this wasn't the first time that she drove drunk- only the first time that she has been court. She wrote one car off in October and the new car is covered in dents.

It's the lack of insight and remorse that is concerning me that she will do it again.

A section 47 is underway but I'm not sure as to how much of her drinking it will uncover. I have found bottles of spirits hidden away over the last few years, but she always denied drinking (even when presented with the evidence) and I can't prove anything.
She may have to medically prove that she no longer abuses alcohol with regular liver function test via blood samples to prove to social services that she is trustworthy to have the children
 
Hi OP
I don’t really have much to add other than to say I’m sorry for you and your children are going through this.
I’m also sympathetic to your wife. I imagine she feels awful. Hopefully for your children’s sake she uses this as the biggest wake up call and turns her life around. The first step is admitting she has a problem. If she makes an effort to show she’s committed to change and can demonstrate this (with proof) to the magistrates then this may help mitigation.

you sound like a great dad and your children are lucky to have you.

Alcoholism is a terrible illness (I’ve been there). The circumstances of what happened to me are different but there were times I drank around my son and put him at risk. Gives me chills now to think of what could have happened 😔

Best wishes OP
 
The problem is she hasn't admitted that she has a problem. She has always denied drinking to me. She has told my son and the social worker that she only had a glass of wine (there where two empty bottles in the bin and a third broken on the floor).

She can't get help until she realises that she has a problem and I can't see how they will be safe with her until she gets help.

And she is happily driving around.
 
Could I update and ask for some more advice?

I have found out that she blew 91 in the police station back in March after driving to school, and I think she has been charged with drink driving but hasn't gone to court yet (she will not tell me anything about it).

Today she again drove to school after drinking a large amount of Vodka. She parked the car on the pavement outside school on the yellow chevrons and narrowly missed a child.

School would not let her collect my child and the police took her away so I'm assuming that she has been arrested again.

My questions are, is there any way that the police can stop her from driving before she hurts herself or another and what will the outcome of two drink driving episodes in a four month period?

Thank you
 
Hi OP
I don’t really have much to add other than to say I’m sorry for you and your children are going through this.
I’m also sympathetic to your wife. I imagine she feels awful. Hopefully for your children’s sake she uses this as the biggest wake up call and turns her life around. The first step is admitting she has a problem. If she makes an effort to show she’s committed to change and can demonstrate this (with proof) to the magistrates then this may help mitigation.

you sound like a great dad and your children are lucky to have you.

Alcoholism is a terrible illness (I’ve been there). The circumstances of what happened to me are different but there were times I drank around my son and put him at risk. Gives me chills now to think of what could have happened 😔

Best wishes OP
Well done to you for turning things around .
 
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