Should he please guilty. What sort of sentence will he get?

[driving2010]

Hi. I am looking for some information for my nephew who has recently been charged with drink driving. I will try to keep the story as simple as possible. A month ago he was attending a party. He had driven to the party in his own car and his friend had also driven to the party in his own car. Once they got to the party they decided they would drink afterall and intended to leave their cars at the party and collect them the following day. At around midnight police came to the party which was near ending. My nephew and his friend were not in the cars and were in fact no where near their cars. The police called my nephew over and asked him if he had been drinking which he admitted he had, they then asked if he had alcohol in his car which he didn't. They asked if they could look in his car which he allowed them to do. They then asked if he would mind jumping into the back fo the police van so they could ask a few more questions as there had been reports of people at the party driving their cars under the influence. My nephew hurriedly made a call to his mother as he didn't know what was going on however when the police officer saw this he confiscated is phone closed the van and drove him to the police station without charging him. Once at the police station he provided them with a breath test and he was over the limit (2.5 over the limit) as he would have expected as he had been drinking. and they once again told him they had reports of people driving while drunk at the party. He was then formally arrested for drink driving and put in a holding cell. (my Nephew has just turned 18 and therefore they did not allow him to contact anybody). In the meantime they informed him that they would interview him and asked if he wanted a solicitor. My nephew, having nothing to hide, responded that how long would it take to get a solicitor and they informed him it could take an hour or it could take several hours. Again wanting to get things over with as quickly as possible he said he would not bother with a solicitor as he didn't believe he was guilty of anything. He aslo agreed to a urine test. They then did the interview and asked if he had moved his car while at the party. He admitted that he had moved his car earlier in the evening, prior to drinking an excess of alcohol. He admitted he did move the car at the beginning of the party when he had only had a drink or possibly two. They asked what time that was. He explained he didn't know. They said the neighbors of this party had seen 'some boys moving their cars' while a the party. The neighbors couldn't provide evidence of who or which cars and there were several at the party. Many of the people had left the party already when the police arrived and had left in their own vehicles. My Nephew and his friend were trying to decide whether to walk or whether ot phone for a taxi at the time. At this point my nephews mother had arranged for a solicitor to go down for the second interview which took place. He was then released on bail without charge, 14 hours after his initial arrest. he appeared back at the station last week where he was formally charged with DRINK DRIVING. He has been told that purely to admitting to having moved his car they do not need any further evidence. He was obvioulsy still under the influence when interviewed and was very emotionally stressed as he had never been in any sort of trouble before. Although he has a solicitor representing him, he is not a drink driving specialist. He has been advised to plead guilty and has been told that he is looking at a ban of 21 months, community service, fine and court charges. He has only had his licence for 2 months after saving up for two years for his car and insurance. Not having his car will greatly affect his studying and the 3 part time jobs he has. Can you tell me if this sentence is likely and further is there anything that can be done to provide further evidence to refute that of the police. He still maintains he had not had more than a beer or two when he moved his cars 115m from the house down the road (they were told by the owners of the house to move all their cars or else they would call the police. The young girl hosting the party got very drunk and for this reason her friend started getting rid of people). My nephew is a very responsible level headed student who very rarely drinks at all due to his Martial Arts training. He has attended a mandatory 2 day drink counselling course and has received a very good report from them.
Any advice you are able to offer would be very helpful as I truly believe that the sentencing will adversely affect his life and the potential sentence seems extreme. (The treatment he received by the police prior to the arrival of the solicitor is to be taken up as a separate matter).

Thank you.

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

The prosecution will have to prove that your nephew drove whilst over the prescribed limit. They are likely to rely on this admissions in this regard.

In cases like your nephew's they will often do this with evidence of him admitting it to the police. If your nephew has admitted that he drove he will have to prove, on the balance of probabilities, that any alcohol consumed prior to driving would not have been enough to put him over the limit. He would have to instruct a forensic scientist to do a BAC calculation to work out what his alcohol level would have been had he not had the alcohol after driving. This is called the hip flask defence.

If he cannot successfully argue the hip flask defence then he will be disqualified from driving. The length of the ban will depend on the level of reading and the sentencing guidelines can be found elsewhere on this site.

Your nephew should speak to a specialist solicitor immediately for advice.

We can represent him in any court in England or Wales. Call us on 08450020736 to arrange.
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