Letter for Sheriff

Convicted Driver Insurance

stubear

Member
I'm due in court next week.

I met with a junior solicitor yesterday, who I was going to have represent me, but on retrospect
as its a guilty plea, I think I'll go it alone.

My Reading was 96mg

There was no other aggrivating factors at the time, bar I was pulled as the Police felt I was swerving.

I have no previous convictions at all and no previous motoring offences.

If I do decide to just go on my own, I have rattled up a letter I thought I could maybe give to the sheriff to show
my remorse.

If possible would you mind having a look over it and seeing if there is anything that should be added in or taken out that
may aggrivate the situation.

Many thanks

_________________________________________________________________________________________________


Dear Sheriff,

Can I please take the opportunity to apologise to yourself, to the court and to society for the reckless, irresponsible and indefensible offence I committed.

I can’t express enough how deeply ashamed and remorseful I am for committing this offence , which sees me appear before you today.

There is no excuse for it. I made a mindless mistake that I’ll regret for the rest of my days.

Being arrested and charged for this offence, has made me stand back and assess my life and the direction it was in. As a background, I’d suffered mental health difficulties in the past and they’d come to the fore these past months. Instead of seeking the appropriate help and support for this, I was burying my head in the sand and stupidly self-medicating with alcohol at home, alone.

Post offence, I came to the decision that I would have to fully abstain from alcohol, and have done since. In light of this my depression and anxiety has actually curtailed a great deal, and this health benefit coupled with the horror and shame of my offence tells me that my life will be so much better without alcohol and the many negative effects It has had on me.

Prior to offending, I saw myself as a decent, respectable, hardworking member of the community. I previously worked for Royal Mail in and around ****, including delivering the mail to this court house. For the past four and half years I have worked in a responsible and demanding job in nursing at *******.

I have never had any contact with the law before, and I will always reflect on this experience to ensure that I reform as a character. I have driven and held a licence for over eight years and have no cautions/points on it.

I’d be grateful and willing to attend a drink driving rehabilitation course, If I’m deemed suitable for such.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Sincerely

stubear
 
Stubear,

Thank you for your query.

The letter certainly addresses the salient points, including the request that you be made subject to the approved driver course. The Court will also seek clarification of your financial circumstances in calculation of the applicable financial penalty.

A potential difficulty for you is that courts in Scotland generally proceed on the basis of parole submissions and so it is somewhat unusual for an accused to be present and tender his mitigation in writing. It is entirely up to the presiding Sheriff as to whether they are prepared to proceed on that basis. If not, you will require to be prepared to address the Bench verbally.

Best of luck,
 
I was up in court today.

It was a busy court and I think they my case was at the bottom of the pile.

As they only dealt with me after 3pm having been there since 10am when a police officer noticed I was still there, I was keeping sctum in the hope it was lost ha!

The duty solicitor was very good and represented me after a very brief chat, she also read the above letter I prepped and proceded to give it to the sheriff, who seemed receptive of it as It covered my background to the offence.

The sheriff was informed my car had been sold.

I was given an interim ban (which will obviously be substanciated)

I've to go back on Dec 1 after social work reports/intervention.

I have two questions please:

Will the ban I get, start from today, ie will the ban I get in Dec be back counted?

Whats likely to be involved in the social work thing? I have a clean history and this is my first offence, bar mentioning probs with alcohol in my letter, I dont really know what they can report/throw up, i've not had a drink in 3 weeks.


Many thanks

Stuart,
 
Stuart,

As you are now formally represented in this case - by the duty solicitor - any further legal advice you wish will require to be obtained from her. It is a breach of the Law Society of Scotland regulations for one solicitor to advise another's client.

What can be said in general terms is that a ban imposed will start from the date of your deferred sentence, however it would be hoped that the Sheriff will take account when deciding the length of it of the period spent in interim disqualification.

Regards,
 
Thank you Michael

I hope so, as I've a feeling I'll get a big ban,

However hopefully can be discounted slightly by early guilty plea and any course offered.
 
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