Need advice!

[kel86]

Hi,

I went out for a quiet evening to see old friends that I hadn't seen in ages and had a couple of drinks. Normally i'd never consider having a single drink and driving but I risked it just this once, but will never risk it ever again! I had tonsillitis at the time so had eaten next to nothing and was taking paracetamol. It was a genuine mistake as I did not think i'd be over the legal limit and i'd never intentionally get drunk and drive as I would not want to jeopardise my career as a radiotherapist. The police pulled me over for a routine check but had said there was nothing wrong with my driving. Anyway my breath test failed with a reading of 44, just got my blood test back which came back as 82mg!! I'm devastated. I've never got myself into any trouble before. I do not know what to expect in court. I guess I will have to plead guilty as I did have a couple of drinks even though I did not think this would put me over the limit but tests say otherwise. Free advice was offered to me at the police station but I was too distraught at the time to accept it. I do not know how to go about getting a solicitor and seeking free advice.

Thanks.

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

You are likely to be sentenced to a ban of 12 months from the reading that you have outlined. This presupposes that you intend to plead guilty to the offence with which you are charged.

Should you require a Solicitor it is important to instruct one as early as possible. Drink Driving law is a highly specialised area of law. As such, you are best to seek the services of an expert motoring lawyer in order to maximise your prospects of success. This is particularly so if a ban would result in you losing your job. A conviction would also be a criminal one. Whilst you may be able to use a duty solicitor at Court, their services are not guaranteed. Furthermore, if you are lucky enough to speak to one you may only get 5 - 10 minutes at most and you will have no control over the skill or expertise of the duty solicitor at Court that day.

The police frequently make errors in the procedure, either at the road side or at the police station. We have dealt with situations like yours before with success and are able to offer advice on whether the procedure was followed correctly with a view to persuading the Court to rule your blood sample as inadmissible.

We offer 2 levels of service to people who are considering challenging the case against them:

(1) A written opinion on your prospects of success and the defences that can and should be run in your case. This is often used by people who would like to represent themselves or who would like the benefit of our expertise and intend to use a less experienced and cheaper solicitor.

(2) Full representation to trial. If you were successful you would be entitled to reimbursement of your legal fees paid subject to taxation.
If you wanted to proceed further then we would invite you to contact us in order to discuss matters further.

If you require our assistance please do not hesitate to telephone us.