Failed to provide Speciman - Need urgent help (First offence ever)

Convicted Driver Insurance

hazza304

New Member
Hello Guys so last week thursday was driving and stopped at red signal. guy driving on next lane stopped and started arguing as he was drunk as well but i think he was way too much drunk. he went to police coz i didnt response police came to me and asked to park the car and discuss what happened ? then they asked to take breathe reading done that. than went to police station and asked to do another test on machine so tried that 3-4 times and then lady stopped the machine (its like a massive computer). than they kept me in a room for a night, morning done fingerprints and all and gave me a letter saying failed to provide specimen so i said well i tried it didnt work its my first time and i am scared and shaky i dont know what went wrong.
So going to court on 3rd april and first time ever offence no speeding tickets no other offence other than parking fine which has been paid on time. I am a working professional and i live in manchester and its a company car as i work as BDM. i need to go see my kid in southampton every fortnight as well so cant afford to loose licence and on google on all lawyers sites it says minimum 12 months you will loose 100% but few of my mates they only had fine and do rehabilitation course as they were first timer.
Please help me and guide me as lawyers costing too much after recent divorce which i paid off just now as well. Duty solicitors are helpful or they are always on police side ? what should i tell judge for not to ban me ?
Thanks
 
Wen you blow into the big breath test machine at the police station, there is a 3 minute window for you to provide a satisfactory sample, then the machine shuts dow So it wasn’t ‘switched off’ by the officer.
You have got it wrong about your friends doing a Drink Drive Rehabilitation Course and avoiding a ban, you can only do the course if you HAVE been banned, and the course reduces the ban by up to 25%. It doesn’t matter for this if you are only ‘a first timer’, you will still get banned. As you say, the minimum is 12 months, but for failing to supply it can go up to 36 months, depending on why the court think you failed to supply and what level of intoxication the prosecution put to the court they feel that you were in.
The duty solicitor is available at every court and will give free advice. That might not extend to going into court to speak up for you, the solicitor can only claim for that if. There is a substantial risk of custody, which from what you have described is not going to be the case. If the duty solicitor has other cases that are likely to involve custody then those will take priority.
The duty solicitor is certainly not ‘on the police side’. He/she is a regular solicitor who, the next day, may we’ll be in the same court for clients that are paying for his services.
 
Wen you blow into the big breath test machine at the police station, there is a 3 minute window for you to provide a satisfactory sample, then the machine shuts dow So it wasn’t ‘switched off’ by the officer.
You have got it wrong about your friends doing a Drink Drive Rehabilitation Course and avoiding a ban, you can only do the course if you HAVE been banned, and the course reduces the ban by up to 25%. It doesn’t matter for this if you are only ‘a first timer’, you will still get banned. As you say, the minimum is 12 months, but for failing to supply it can go up to 36 months, depending on why the court think you failed to supply and what level of intoxication the prosecution put to the court they feel that you were in.
The duty solicitor is available at every court and will give free advice. That might not extend to going into court to speak up for you, the solicitor can only claim for that if. There is a substantial risk of custody, which from what you have described is not going to be the case. If the duty solicitor has other cases that are likely to involve custody then those will take priority.
The duty solicitor is certainly not ‘on the police side’. He/she is a regular solicitor who, the next day, may we’ll be in the same court for clients that are paying for his services.

Thanks price1367 : I am on medication from last year gp got recordds. side effects of that medicine on nhs website its written about breathing problems and can make my pipe in lungs tighter and one day i had to call an ambulance as couldnt breath at all and bp went high and sweating in normal weather at home. went to hospital and docs gave me penicilines to take for a week but untill today i do have something in my throat always did tell gp and she said last time due to this medicine fexofenadine you can feel it but dont take any other flu pills with this otherwise need to call ambulance again. and i just realised this after getting some free advice from few solicitors . so can i use this in my case as a point that i did try hard and the best i can you can check on cctv but may be bcause of this didnt get the reading as i do have side effects of breathing bcoz of this medication?
Thanks again
 
Thanks price1367 : I am on medication from last year gp got recordds. side effects of that medicine on nhs website its written about breathing problems and can make my pipe in lungs tighter and one day i had to call an ambulance as couldnt breath at all and bp went high and sweating in normal weather at home. went to hospital and docs gave me penicilines to take for a week but untill today i do have something in my throat always did tell gp and she said last time due to this medicine fexofenadine you can feel it but dont take any other flu pills with this otherwise need to call ambulance again. and i just realised this after getting some free advice from few solicitors . so can i use this in my case as a point that i did try hard and the best i can you can check on cctv but may be bcause of this didnt get the reading as i do have side effects of breathing bcoz of this medication?
Thanks again

Is it not just the equivalent of one big breath to satisfy the machine? A court maybe sceptical as to why you couldn't do that without the backup of serious medical history.

Whats the difference in satisfying a roadside tester to that of an evidential one? (Price may know). If its more or less the same you may be on an uphill struggle to convince a bench that you could do one but not the other.

Solicitors may well be optimistic but they will be paid whether you win or lose so bare that in mind.
 
Is it not just the equivalent of one big breath to satisfy the machine? A court maybe sceptical as to why you couldn't do that without the backup of serious medical history.

Whats the difference in satisfying a roadside tester to that of an evidential one? (Price may know). If its more or less the same you may be on an uphill struggle to convince a bench that you could do one but not the other.

Solicitors may well be optimistic but they will be paid whether you win or lose so bare that in mind.
Thanks Hewl, for your reply. but its not like i gave them the reading on road test straight away i remember clearly trying 3-4 times and i dont know if that worked or not. i can only know once i get evidence from court before going to court. and i will only get solicitor if there was no reading even on road side. otherwise u r right they may think that i can give reading in 3-4 trials on road but not at the station lol
i am ready mentally to loose my licence for 12 months. its just need to see my kid after divorce every fortnight in southampton from manchester so hard to travel without car i am not bothered about job as i do have my own business and things but lets see
let me know what you think - if no reading on road test and no reading at station than can i use this medicine as an excuse ?
 
Thanks Hewl, for your reply. but its not like i gave them the reading on road test straight away i remember clearly trying 3-4 times and i dont know if that worked or not. i can only know once i get evidence from court before going to court. and i will only get solicitor if there was no reading even on road side. otherwise u r right they may think that i can give reading in 3-4 trials on road but not at the station lol
i am ready mentally to loose my licence for 12 months. its just need to see my kid after divorce every fortnight in southampton from manchester so hard to travel without car i am not bothered about job as i do have my own business and things but lets see
let me know what you think - if no reading on road test and no reading at station than can i use this medicine as an excuse ?

Hate to say it but you are probably looking at more than 12 months. On reflection it may be advisable to have a solicitor. The sentencing guidelines for 'failure to provide' is higher than the minimum of 12 months so a solicitor may be worth it if they can reduce the disqualification down to the minimum. Obviously it can be 12 months, just not guaranteed to be. I am really not sure if they could help with the medical reasons, this is something only a solicitor can investigate but from what you have said here, I think a bench would be very sceptical without any serious medical history and are likely to simple dismiss your medicine claims
 
Is it not just the equivalent of one big breath to satisfy the machine? A court maybe sceptical as to why you couldn't do that without the backup of serious medical history.

Whats the difference in satisfying a roadside tester to that of an evidential one? (Price may know). If its more or less the same you may be on an uphill struggle to convince a bench that you could do one but not the other.

Solicitors may well be optimistic but they will be paid whether you win or lose so bare that in mind.

There is a difference between the 2 different breath testing devices. The roadside one is basically a straw that you blow down, it is open at both ends but the exit hose is smaller that where you blow. This creates slight resistance, and the breath is then diverted into the hand held device. With the police station one you are blowing into a machine and there is a resistance in the device that makes it harder to blow into. You also have to blow for longer and, importantly, consistently. If you slacken off a small amount, but then continue blowing, the machine will take that as in incorrect sample and recycle itself. There is only a 3 minute window to provide a satisfactory sample.
When you were booked into custody you would have been asked if you had any medical problems, of it you were on any medication. What did you say then? When you did not provide a satisfactory sample, you would have been asked if there were any medical reasons for this. What did you say? If you didn’t mention what you have told us here while you were in custody then it makes it harder to convince he court that you had a genuine reason for not providing.
 
There is a difference between the 2 different breath testing devices. The roadside one is basically a straw that you blow down, it is open at both ends but the exit hose is smaller that where you blow. This creates slight resistance, and the breath is then diverted into the hand held device. With the police station one you are blowing into a machine and there is a resistance in the device that makes it harder to blow into. You also have to blow for longer and, importantly, consistently. If you slacken off a small amount, but then continue blowing, the machine will take that as in incorrect sample and recycle itself. There is only a 3 minute window to provide a satisfactory sample.
When you were booked into custody you would have been asked if you had any medical problems, of it you were on any medication. What did you say then? When you did not provide a satisfactory sample, you would have been asked if there were any medical reasons for this. What did you say? If you didn’t mention what you have told us here while you were in custody then it makes it harder to convince he court that you had a genuine reason for not providing.

Thank you Price for the information.

Some key questions for Hazza304!
 
Hello Guys
just got back home from court today in manchester
GREAT NEWS
Failed to provide specimen - judge took my work and driving history as a main thing and just gave me 325pounds fine including court costs + 10 points on my licence and no ban, he clearly said that I am very lucky one

Thanks for your help guys but i honestly didnt expect this one comin as from all posts i was just thinking 12 months ban i will get and thats it but very lucky day i will be on road again and more careful this time
 
So you were actually prosecuted for drunk in charge of a vehicle rather that drink driving? That is the only way that a ban can be discretionary. You were really lucky for this to happen as there seems to have been ample evidence that you drove.
 
Yes in police report it was drunk in charge of a vehicle as i was stopped at red light and had an argument with a passenger in taxi on next lane and he went to police as he was ore smashed than me so police told me to park and talk we were talking they smell alcohol i told them yes i had 2 beers, thy got reading on road machine went to police station there they didnt get reading. ok so in court judge clearly said - due to my previous clean records and had no fines no points nothin even though i drive 35000 miles a year for a company i work for in company car , had good character references from my clients as well in manchester so i am lucky .
my lawyer did take this point about in charge of a vehicle thing plus he told the judge that you can clearly see the video footage of me trying so hard at station and machine went off after 3 minutes so i cant do anything about that, all 3 judges took 5 minutes break went to discuss and came back and gave me 325pouds fine including court fees and other costs as i accepted guilty in first place and gave me 10 points
but i am happy with 10 points it was just a night i had 2 beers and unlucky to get in to an argument with this guy else i would have saved this 799+vat solicitors fees but i guess cant compalin , its all worth it now , just need to be more careful now than before
 
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