Need help

[EA19]

Hi folks,

My misery I have brought upon my family but especially our autistic child. I have been driving around 15 years with a clean licence and I also have no convictions.

I've been under a lot of stress recently and suffer from depression, anxiety, panic disorder and fibromyalgia for years, though a week ago I started experiencing auditory hallucinations which I have not had since 2015, well to cut the story short... I had 8 Budweiser’s and finished around 10pm then around 11:30pm I had a silly argument with the partner and she told me to leave the house, so I did also taking car keys though knowing I consumed alcohol I went nearby friend’s house until around 1:15am and on the way back I text my partner but she said no go somewhere else, so I stupidly took the vehicle which is my child’s Motability car, I know…

She heard me leaving driveway and tried phoning me but I ignored it while driving then I pulled over and called her she told me I did not have permission to take the car, but I didn’t know this until I already taken the car as I’m the daily driver and only person on the insurance and then she said police are on there way so I brought car back parked it on driveway and just sat outside house knowing what I did was very wrong. So, police turned up and asked I said no wasn’t me drove it and didn’t know where keys are…

I’ve never been in trouble before so thought I was going to prison!

I blew 21 and 22 at roadside (Scotland) down at station blew 28 and 29, was searched and found key.
So I've got 3 charges… taken car without permission, driving under the influence of alcohol and failing to give identity of the driver.

Any help and advice on this will be greatly appreciated.

 

[price1367]

Hi folks,

My misery I have brought upon my family but especially our autistic child. I have been driving around 15 years with a clean licence and I also have no convictions.

I've been under a lot of stress recently and suffer from depression, anxiety, panic disorder and fibromyalgia for years, though a week ago I started experiencing auditory hallucinations which I have not had since 2015, well to cut the story short... I had 8 Budweiser’s and finished around 10pm then around 11:30pm I had a silly argument with the partner and she told me to leave the house, so I did also taking car keys though knowing I consumed alcohol I went nearby friend’s house until around 1:15am and on the way back I text my partner but she said no go somewhere else, so I stupidly took the vehicle which is my child’s Motability car, I know…

She heard me leaving driveway and tried phoning me but I ignored it while driving then I pulled over and called her she told me I did not have permission to take the car, but I didn’t know this until I already taken the car as I’m the daily driver and only person on the insurance and then she said police are on there way so I brought car back parked it on driveway and just sat outside house knowing what I did was very wrong. So, police turned up and asked I said no wasn’t me drove it and didn’t know where keys are…

I’ve never been in trouble before so thought I was going to prison!

I blew 21 and 22 at roadside (Scotland) down at station blew 28 and 29, was searched and found key.
So I've got 3 charges… taken car without permission, driving under the influence of alcohol and failing to give identity of the driver.

Any help and advice on this will be greatly appreciated.

A sorry tale.......
You are going to get a minimum 12 month ban for drink driving. In Scotland there is no “sliding scale” guidelines for the court to follow like there is in England, but the 12 month minimum is the same.
The taking of the vehicle is harsh, and I think it is likely that it would be dropped at court. If not, you should consider a not guilty plea. Your partner would be unlikely to want to give evidence about you “taking the car” and given that you are the only insured person for in and you drive it on a daily basis then this certainly implies permission. I suppose that once you were told that you did not have permission to drive then you should have got out of the car and not driven it, but I would hope a prosecutor would apply a degree of common sense to this.
As to the failing to name the driver, S172 requires a keeper of a vehicle to name the driver at the time of an alleged event. It has to be done in a proper format and, if in writing, give a person 28 days to comply.
Was it simply that the police said to you at the scene: “who was driving this car a few minutes ago.” And you said you didn’t know, or did they interview you later and you still denied being the driver? Did they serve a written notice on you?
If all you did was an initial denial to a simple question, but when the keys were found you admitted being the driver, still at the scene, then again it is harsh to prosecute you under S172. If you indicate a not guilty plea to that as well I think the prosecutor would discontinue that offence, given that the court can be told that you lied when being asked about driving the car and take that into account when sentencing you for drink driving.

 

[TipsyNurse]

It is a slightly curious case in that if the failure to name the driver case were to succeed, then logically the DD and TWOC cases should be dropped. Normally S172 failure to provide driver details cases are prosecuted BECAUSE they don't have details of the driver.

However, seeing as you have apparently admitted to being the driver then as Price says the best case is a 12 month ban for the DD with the other two dropped. Even if they decided to proceed with the TWOC it is very likely you would just get an additional fine for that. It is what tends to be referred to by police as "technical TWOC", e.g. although your family wouldn't have let you drive the car in that exact circumstance, you would normally be allowed to drive the car.

The potential bad news is that with a DD disqualification you will not be able to drive any Motability car for the next five years, as their insurance does not cover drivers with disqualifications of more than a month.

 

[price1367]

It seems that the charge of S172 is based on failing to disclose the details of the driver “at the time the request was made”, so the fact that he admitted to being the driver himself afterwards does not do away with an initial failure to disclose. That does seem harsh and could be better met as aggravating circumstances of the drink driving without it being a separate charge.
Whether or not the request was worded to form a genuine S172 request could be another discussion if the prosecution are determined to press ahead with that offence. In the same circumstances I have occasionally see a motorist charged with obstructing a Constable in the execution of his duty if he/she really hacked off the officers, but the norm was to just include it in the circumstances of the drink driving.

Good point, TipsyNurse, about the Motability and insurance. Yet another lasting issue for people with a disability or their family to deal with!
If the police had been really nasty, they could have considered a charge of no insurance as there is is a condition of the motability scheme Saying: “Only drivers listed as permitted drivers on the Certificate of Motor Insurance are insured to drive your Motability car. Remember, the car must be used by, or for the benefit of, the disabled person” this journey clearly wasn’t........