Worried about breathalyzer reading!

Convicted Driver Insurance

kevallan82

New Member
Hi,
I was recently pulled over by the police whilst driving home from the pub. I had only had one beer just before leaving which I explained. I was breathalyzed and to my amazement my reading was 60+. The arresting officer did say that he could see that I was not drunk and believed his reading was faulty so I was driven to the police station and asked to provide another breath sample. Again, to my amazement it showed me as over, however it had dropped to 44 from 60+ in about 10 minutes.
I was then asked if I wished to provide a urine sample to which I said yes.
I am due to collect the results tomorrow and I am really worried. Will the Urine test show less then the breathalyzer did? I admit that I have been convicted of Drink driving in the past which is why I would never do it again. I'm reading a lot about 3 month prison sentences for repeat offenders and my wife has recently had our first child. I really don't want to go to prison over one pint of beer.
Does anyone have any advice?
Thank you in advance
 
kevallan82 said:
Hi,
I was recently pulled over by the police whilst driving home from the pub. I had only had one beer just before leaving which I explained. I was breathalyzed and to my amazement my reading was 60+. The arresting officer did say that he could see that I was not drunk and believed his reading was faulty so I was driven to the police station and asked to provide another breath sample. Again, to my amazement it showed me as over, however it had dropped to 44 from 60+ in about 10 minutes.
I was then asked if I wished to provide a urine sample to which I said yes.
I am due to collect the results tomorrow and I am really worried. Will the Urine test show less then the breathalyzer did? I admit that I have been convicted of Drink driving in the past which is why I would never do it again. I'm reading a lot about 3 month prison sentences for repeat offenders and my wife has recently had our first child. I really don't want to go to prison over one pint of beer.
Does anyone have any advice?
Thank you in advance
Click to expand...

Hi,

Welcome to the forum.

The only thing you can do is wait for the urine test results to come back. The high preliminary breath test reading could have been due to residual mouth alcohol if you had not long finished your drink.

Even if the urine test results in a positive and you are charged, it is very unlikely you will be sent to prison under the circumstances you describe, this of course will depend on your criminal record, you will however, receive a minimum 3 year driving ban if convicted and your previous drink driving conviction was within the past 10 years. Let us know how you get on tomorow.
 
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I have received my results and I have failed. Apparently the acceptable content in 100 millilitres of urine is 107 and mine was 116. I'm still really confused how this has happened after one drink.
I am now due in court and I am really worried as to what will happen. As I said before I have offended before about 6 years ago and everywhere I look says that this means a heavy fine and 3 months in prison. If i have to pay the fine I will pay it but I really want to avoid prison especially as I have a 13 week old son.
On my documentation there is no mention of my previous conviction but I assume that it will show somewhere, is this the case?
What is the likelyhood of me having to go to prison?
I was completely compliant throughout my arrest, will this benefit me?
 
Hi there.

The Court will be aware of your previous conviction if and when you are sentenced as a copy of your driving record will be obtained by the Court and Prosecution. The level of alcohol in your urine is low and this is mitigation in your case. You may be interested to learn that it is possible to argue against the inclusive of evidence (ie your urine specimen) at Court if the procedure at the police station has not been adhered to properly. We have won similar cases where the procedure to obtain urine has been flawed.

When are you due in Court?
 
Hi there,

The Court will be made aware of your previous conviction as it will obtain a copy of your driving record and the Prosecution will also have this information on their file. The level of alcohol in your urine is low, although still over the limit. This is a mitigating factor in your case.

Whilst it seems you are looking at pleading guilty, it may interest you to learn that such cases case be defended (often very successfully) on the basis of the police committing procedural errors when obtaining specimens of urine.
 
Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
I have done some research in to alcohol levels and wonder if maybe the increased alcohol content in my system was due to the party I attended the night before?
I left the car at the pub that night and the day I got arrested was on my way back from picking the car up.
Everything seems to point to me being over the allowed limit for driving, ie. Urine sample and breath test and all I really want is to avoid prison. Is this likely or is a second offense a definate prison sentence?

I'm due in court at 9.30am on march 4th
 
Your level of alcohol may have been increased due to the party that you attended the previous evening. It is impossible to advise without knowing a lot more. If you are seeking damage limitation (ie to be minimise any risk of the Court considering custody) I would recommend that you see a Motoring Defence Solicitor. We offer a fixed fee service if you want to plead guilty if you were interested.
 
Yes, I am very interested..
I just want to avoid prison, I guess I have to ready myself for that as a possibility.
I just need to know what my chances are of avoiding it? If there is a good chance that I will go to prison then I need to start putting things in place so that my family will be ok.
 
Kevallan,

To put your mind at rest and to discuss matters further it may be easier if you give me a call on 01942 774179.

Thanks and look forward to hearing from you.
 
Hi,

Thanks, I will call you after work

One more thing though. I have been advised by a friend that maybe the urine sample was taken incorrectly as I should of emptied my bladder first and then provided a urine sample. Is this true as I was not asked to do this and provided a sample straight away?

Regards
 
That certainly seems very interesting and we can discuss this further when we speak. As I will be leaving the office at 5 pm if you are wanting to speak to me after this time email me your number and I will call you tonight. jrn@stephensons.co.uk
 
Just to update you. I was found 'NOT GUILTY' whilst on trial. I managed to prove that the urine sample was takien incorrectly and I also obtained a medical report from a Professor saying that 1 minute (which is what the officers say was the time apart even though there was no break between sample) was not adequate as it can only be classed as one sample.
Basically I proved the Police were lying about how the procedure was carried out and I'm happy to say that I am continuing to enjoy my driving...
It was also nice to prove that some police officers are just as bad as the rest of us.

Many Thanks

Kev
 
Procedures laid down in law for the taking of samples are there to protect against the risk of miscarraiges of justice. The decision to exclude evidence due to incorrect procedures depends on the nature and extent of the deviation from the correct procedure. However, the decision in this case shows that courts, properly directed, will not shirk from excluding evidence if the circumstances justify it.

Getting advice and representation from a specialist lawyer can, and often does, make all the difference.
 
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