high reading and incident!!

Convicted Driver Insurance

dmhh15

New Member
Hi,

My mum made a very silly mistake and drove whilst heavily under the influence. She had only drove half a mile to stop off somewhere and crashed into a parked car! Her reading was 100 + but she can't remember the exact number but doing research it was probably between 100 - 115

She had to stay in the cell overnight and appear in court the next day! She was told she was automatically banned and to attend for sentancing in August. She is due to appear shortly.

She had to go to visit the social work dept to have a background report done (not sure if this is the normal routine)?. They asked her Everything you can imagine!! from childhood until now! Whilst she was there though, she was told a custodial sentance is a possibility at the most. She is now absolutely terrified as am I. There is no way she will cope with a prison sentence!!

She admitted she done wrong and is extremely sorry and disgusted at what she has done. She has admitted she has a drink problem and referred herself to a alcohol counsellor soon after being charged! She has a full clean driving license since she was 17, she is now 60!! Never had bother with the law, never been to court or anything like that! She is on medication for depression and a minor illness. She has told the social worker she is more than happy to have community service.

She doesn't work as she is retired but her and my dad are both home owners and my dad has a well paid job so he would help with any fine imposed!

Because of the high reading and the crashing a parked car she is now got it in her head she is going to prison! She is a very small timid lady with as I said health problems.

Please help

Thanks
 
Hi

Thank you for your post.

It seems that your mum has entered a plea of guilty and sentence has been deferred for reports. This is to enable the Court to have the full range of sentencing options at its disposal, including custody. Please note however that the deferral of sentence for reports does not mean that custody is inevitable. It is routine for a Court to call for reports to enable the sentencing Sheriff to have a fuller understanding of the person's background. It often helps to identify any issues which may benefit from Court intervention, e.g. alcohol dependency, which seems to apply in the present case.

It is positive that your mum has cooperated with the preparation of the reports and, judging from your post, the reports should commend a disposal other than custody. A disqualification from driving is obligatory and I would suggest that the high breath-alcohol reading would dictate a ban in excess of the statutory minimum of 12 months.

The Court has to consider alternatives to custody and will not pass a sentence of imprisonment on a person who has not previously been sentenced to imprisonment unless it considers that no other method of dealing with the case is appropriate.

I would hope that the present case will be dealt with in a manner other than the imposition of a custodial sentence.
 
Thanks for your response. I hope so too.

One thing I'm not sure is that because she has a slight health problem and hasn't got a lot of upper body strength they might rule out community service.

One thing I also found odd was she said the social worker said they might have their minds made up before she appears!

I suppose all we can do is wait but its playing on my mind as much as my mums.

I just hope with her being a first offender they take that into consideration

Thanks
 
Don't worry too much about the comments made by the social worker, the report can often be influential and I have no doubt it will assist the consideration of sentence in a positive manner.
 
I've just found out she measured at 126mg per 100 breath.

Which obviously means a higher risk does this mean prison is inevitable.
 
A period of custody is certainly open to the Court, however, a number of factors will be weighed in the balance when the Sheriff determines the appropriate sentence.
The Criminal Justice Social Work Report shall assist the Court in assessing whether alternatives to a custodial disposal are appropriate. Other factors such as previous criminal conduct, previous driving conduct, social circumstances and risk of re-offending are all taken into account and if the Sheriff feels that there are alternatives to custody then the sentence should reflect that.

It is logical that the higher the reading, the more likely custody becomes. There is, however, no automatic cut off point in terms of alcohol reading whereby a period of custody becomes inevitable. There have been recent cases with higher readings where the driver has avoided custody.

I trust that this information is useful. It may be prudent for your mother to have legal representation for the deferred sentence.
 
Re: Update!!!!! high reading and incident!!

For info my mum got 27 month ban! 12 month payback order and 150 hours community service! He did say she was very lucky and that if she had previous offences she would be going to jail!


Hi,

My mum made a very silly mistake and drove whilst heavily under the influence. She had only drove half a mile to stop off somewhere and crashed into a parked car! Her reading was 100 + but she can't remember the exact number but doing research it was probably between 100 - 115

She had to stay in the cell overnight and appear in court the next day! She was told she was automatically banned and to attend for sentancing in August. She is due to appear shortly.

She had to go to visit the social work dept to have a background report done (not sure if this is the normal routine)?. They asked her Everything you can imagine!! from childhood until now! Whilst she was there though, she was told a custodial sentance is a possibility at the most. She is now absolutely terrified as am I. There is no way she will cope with a prison sentence!!

She admitted she done wrong and is extremely sorry and disgusted at what she has done. She has admitted she has a drink problem and referred herself to a alcohol counsellor soon after being charged! She has a full clean driving license since she was 17, she is now 60!! Never had bother with the law, never been to court or anything like that! She is on medication for depression and a minor illness. She has told the social worker she is more than happy to have community service.

She doesn't work as she is retired but her and my dad are both home owners and my dad has a well paid job so he would help with any fine imposed!

Because of the high reading and the crashing a parked car she is now got it in her head she is going to prison! She is a very small timid lady with as I said health problems.

Please help

Thanks
 
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