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had to drink and when, and any medication you are on. We will then be able to work out what the reading would have been at the time you were behind the wheel.
Depending on the result of our report, we will be able to put to the court that you should be sentenced in the bottom bracket of the sentence guidelines. However, an expert report in our favour may not be enough. We still need to convince the court that what you’re saying is true and that you did in fact consume alcohol at your friend’s house. I would suggest that both you and your friend attend court, plus anyone else who can give evidence that you were drinking after you stopped driving.
Outcome: The first thing we did was to obtain a report from an expert toxicologist who confirmed that at the time of driving, his reading would have been c. 45 in breath. We could also prove that he was definitely drinking after driving because when the police arrived at the house to arrest him, it could clearly be seen on the body worn video of the arrest that there were alcoholic drinks all over the house and our client had a can of lager in his hand.
So the court accepted both that he was drinking after driving, and that without that alcohol the reading would only have been 45. He was banned for the minimum 12 months, together with the option to complete a drink drive rehabilitation course to reduce that down to 9 months.
CASE 3
Question: I have just received a Notice of Intended Prosecution for driving without due care and attention, failing to stop at the scene of an accident and failing to report an accident.
On New Year’s Eve I finished work at 3am and drove home. I was driving towards a junction with parked cars both sides. As I braked for the junction I hit a patch of black ice and skidded. I had nowhere to go other than into the junction ahead of me. Luckily no one was on the junction and I just went straight over it, but I hit a 40mph sign and knocked it over. There was no one about so I left. I then heard nothing until today when I got this letter in the post. What is likely to happen next?
Answer: You need to nominate yourself as the driver. If you do not, you will be prosecuted for failing to give information which carries 6 penalty points and a £1,000 fine.
PHTM DECEMBER 2024
When you have nominated yourself, they’re likely going to charge you with the above three offences and take you to court. For minor cases, these offences will carry 5-10 points plus fines and costs. However, yours is going to be made more serious by virtue of the fact the court may suspect you were under the influence of drugs or alcohol. If there is a suspicion that the reason the driver left the scene was to avoid a breathalyser, they can impose community orders and disqualify. I think that’s relevant in your case considering the time the accident happened on NYE.
Outcome: This was actually quite a complex case. Firstly, the driver didn’t respond to the request for information, and so the police had to identify him through CCTV at the scene where he could be seen getting out to inspect the damage to his car.
Once the case was at court, we had to get a weather report to confirm the temperature and therefore indicate the presence of black ice on the road. We pleaded not guilty to driving without due care and attention and after a trial, he was found not guilty. The court agreed he was driving appropriately for the weather conditions and the accident was not his fault.
We also pleaded not guilty to failing to stop at the scene of an accident. Even though he left the scene, the CCTV showed there was no one in the area. The duty on a driver after an accident is to stop and exchange details with any person who might reasonably require them, and as there was no one around, the prosecution could not prove he failed to exchange details when asked.
But - if you don’t stop and exchange details, you must report the matter to a police station as soon as possible, which of course he did not do, so he was guilty of that. Having pleaded guilty to that, we pushed the court for 6-7 points. However, the court disagreed. On the footage he could be seen un- steady on his feet and because it was 3am on NYE, the court suspected he was drunk. That, coupled with the fact he failed to respond to the NIP made the offence more aggravating, so he was given 9 points, 50 hours’ unpaid work and a fine.
For advice on motoring matters, email
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