In charge under the influence of drugs

[pachman]

Hello hope you're well.

I was recently arrested for being In charge of a motor propelled vehicle under the influence of drugs.

• First ever offense.
• No points on license.
• Arresting officer said that I did not appear under the influence of drugs.
• Brief timeline:

1. I arrived at the car park,
2. Turned off the engine and rolled down the windows,
3. Smoked a cannabis cigarette,
4. I then gathered my belongings and started preparing another cannabis cigarette to smoke on the walk to my friend's house who lives nearby, where I had planned to spend the night. Police showed up shortly after.

• I use the car to help my mother with her business. I’m responsible for driving heavy goods from the wholesalers to her cafe. If I cannot drive anymore it would negatively effect my mothers ability to do business.

Timeline of arrest:

• ~8:15pm: Arrived at the car park, placed the car in a parked position, turned the engine off and then rolled down the windows.
• ~8:20pm: Smoked a cannabis cigarette in the car.
• ~8:50pm: Started preparing to leave on foot. I gathered my belongings in the car and began rolling cannabis cigarettes to consume after I left the vehicle on foot. After leaving the vehicle I was going to walk to my friends house to spend the night as previously planned [Image 1]. I had clothing and other items on me required for spending the night at my friend's house. (socks, toothbrush, deodorant, skin cream) [Image 2] These items were mentioned in the police report when I handed in my belongings.

• My friend's house is a 19 minute walk from where I was parked. I park at the John Innes car park because the parking is free all day and I wouldn’t have to stress about moving the vehicle any time soon. [Image 3]

• ~9:00pm: Police appear at this point, they say they can smell cannabis and proceed to search me. They find the cannabis so then proceed to swab test me. The swab returns a positive result.

• ~9:20pm: I was placed under arrest by the police, and taken to the police station to provide a blood sample.
• ~2:30am: I leave the police station released under investigation. I now await the results of the blood sample.

Supporting Images:

Image [1]: Image shows plans I had made to go to my friends house
My friend asked if I wanted to meet him (still), as I was supposed to be at his house by this time.
You can see the 2 messages and the 3 missed calls I received while I was in the police station. (23:32; 00:08; 00:15; 00:46)

Image [2]: Image shows items I had on my person in preparation of spending the night at my friends house

Images [3]: Images shows the 19 minute walking distance from the free parking to my friends house



I hope that helps to paint a clear picture of what happened to me.


What is your advice moving forward?

Should I plead guilty and avoid a drawn out battle in court?
Should I plead not-guilty and try to have the charges dropped?

In your professional opinion, given the above information, what are my chances of reducing my punishment on a not-guilty plea?
What is the likelihood of receiving a bigger punishment if I fail my not guilty-plea?


Many thanks and I truly appreciate your time.

 

[Martin Hammond]

Good evening.

It is too soon to give you any useful advice as you don't know what you are going to be charged with if anything and if charged what your reading would be.

Once you have these answers come back to me and I will hopefully be able to clear things up a little.

Kind regards
Martin.