Urgent Advice Needed

Convicted Driver Insurance

Woody87

New Member
Hi everyone,

I was stopped last night by a police officer and asked to provide a roadside breath sample. I accepted and the test gave the reading 'Fail' i.e. no specific figure. After being taken back to the police station I gave a further sample into the machine and blew 72ug/100ml and was charged. I was asked to sign a print-out from the machine of the results but refused.

My question to the forum is: will not signing that receipt in anyway show that I wasn't willing to accept the result and perhaps help in a not guilty plea? I also drive for a living and losing my license will literally destroy my life and to all intensive purposes render me unemployable. If anyone can offer any help or advice I would be most grateful, even if it's just a simple, "you don't have a leg to stand on" philosophy. This is my first offence.

Thanks in advance.
 
I am no expert but I would imagine if you blew 72 you are certain for a ban, if you signed it or not.
 
Hi,

I would imagine that you need to speak to a solicitor who is a specialist in these types of case.

I am guessing that you will need to ask the Police to prove that the machine was calibrated etc.

With that level of alcohol a ban is entirely likely unless there are exceptional circumstances, I am afraid that losing your job is not regarded as such. Do you however provide the only transport for a severely disbaled relative or such like?

Anyway, I am sorry to hear of your predicament and you will certainly find support here, good luck.
 
Thank you both for the speedy reply.

I cannot think of any exceptional circumstances that would help my cause and to be honest, I think I'm pretty much dead and buried as far as a ban is concerned. From reading other posts in these forums I think the length of ban I should expect is around 20 months and a fine of around £550, I just hope that I'm given the opportunity to go on one of the rehabilitation courses (humiliating as they seem).

In the end I fully accept responsibility, I guess I just have to take my punishment like a man and, as stated by a few people here, be grateful that I didn't injure or kill anyone. In my defence I did fully co-operate with Police at all times although my only concern is that when I was formally charged I was asked what my plea would be and I said I didnt want to make one at that stage. Would that effect my sentence in any way? I mean, I didn't specifically declare a guilty or not guilty plea, hopefully this shouldn't effect things.

One more question, as an honest opinion, is it even worth talking to a solicitor in this case?

Thanks.
 
If you do get offered the course to do do it. I also thought like you that it would be humiliating, but far from it. There were all kinds of people on it and I really enjoyed it.
 
If you plead guilty you need to be aware that a ban is mandatory unless you can prove to the Court that special reasons exist that relate to the offence and not to you.


You are likely to be sentenced to a ban of 17 - 22 months from the reading that you have outlined. This presupposes that you intend to plead guilty to the offence with which you are charged. A financial penalty will also be imposed.


The Court can deviate from this suggestion depending on how they view the case as a whole. Therefore it ultimately depends on how your case is presented to the Court. This is where having a Solicitor can minimise the damage to your driving licence and achieve a shorter ban.


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 or would impact on your livelihood. 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 you breath 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.
 
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