drink driving with minors

[gezza360]

hey.. im looking for some advice please.. so last month i had a few drinks in the afternoon with my friend, with the plan being to stay at her house as she was burying her father the following day, however nightime she became very upset and overwhelmed as she had her own 4 children as well as my 2 running around.. i felt guilty that us being there was making her feel overwhelmed so decided to go home (5 min drive but a 40 minuite walk) all on 30mph roads. between leaving hers and going home however, id had an altercation with an ex which ended up in a fight. The police had then been called and they followed me on the way home due to somebody reporting me. i was arrested on failure to provide. I took a breath test at the station which read 56 and spent the night in a cell. I feel so awful, ashamed and disgusted this happened in front of my 2 children. none of this was planned and even seeing my ex was only supposed to be a conversation of asking a question. does anyone know what I should expect please? and would I be entitled to legal aid?

 

[Martin Hammond]

Good afternoon,

Assuming you have no previous convictions the reading of 56 would usually be a ban of around 16 months and a fine. However, as you rightly point out, the fact there were children in the car will be an aggravating feature and the punishment will increase, but how much is dependent on the mitigation offered by your solicitor, or yourself should you be unrepresented.

Your options are to speak for yourself, ask for the duty solicitor at Court who will be free of charge or spend around £1000 on a specialist lawyer.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards
Martin.