Offence: Failing to Provide a Specimen of Breath for Analysis

Defence: Technical Defence

Mr O was charged with an offence of failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis.

Millars Solicitors were able to persuade the Crown Prosecution Service that Mr O had been incorrectly charged, and the offence should have been one of failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis whilst in charge of a motor vehicle, rather than driving a motor vehicle. The Crown Prosecution Service accepted the argument and the charge was changed to reflect the lesser offence.

We managed to persuade the Court to impose 10 penalty points on Mr O’s driving licence instead of a driving disqualification. Naturally Mr O was delighted with the outcome as he faced a minimum period of disqualification of one year, up to a maximum of 3 years.

Offence: Drink Driving

Defence: Technical Defence

Keep My Driving Licence Solicitors Part of Millars Solicitors made representations to the Crown Prosecution Service that there appeared to be no evidence of the defendant driving. It is an essential ingredient of the offence that the defendant is actually driving with excess alcohol. She accepted that she had consumed alcohol but this was after she had stopped driving. This is commonly referred to as a hipflask defence. In the circumstances, the Crown Prosecution Service withdrew the case against Miss W.

Offence: Driving with Excess Alcohol

Defence: Technical Defence

This was another case in which we managed to persuade the Crown Prosecution Service to discontinue an allegation of driving with excess alcohol. The lesser offence of being drunk in charge of a motor vehicle was put to the defendant which he accepted.

Mitigation was advanced and we managed to persuade the Court to endorse 10 penalty points for the offence instead of a disqualification.

Naturally, Mr Y was extremely pleased as he faced disqualification for driving with excess alcohol for a minimum period of 12 months. Instead he ended up with 10 penalty points on his driving licence.

Offence: Failing to Provide a Specimen of Breath for Analysis

Defence: Reasonable Excuse for not providing a specimen of breath, namely panic attacks and asthma and technical defence

Messrs Millars Solicitors trading as Keep My Driving Licence represented Mr P before Horsham Magistrates Court.

At trial, the Crown had difficulties with their witnesses as one was not in attendance at Court and could not be contacted. Furthermore, the CCTV footage had no audio and there was a lack of disclosure served by the Crown. Due to the lack of the prosecution witness, the Crown explained to the Court that they could not proceed without the matter being put back. The Crown made an application to adjourn the case which was rigorously opposed by Messrs Millars Solicitors. The Court refused the application for an adjournment and, in the circumstances, the Crown offered no evidence. A defendants costs order was granted to the defendant, which means that we will be able to reimburse some of his fees paid. Naturally, Mr P was delighted with the outcome.

How long after drinking can I drive?

A simple enough question but not quite so straightforward to answer.

Alcohol slows down the body’s reactions, which makes it unsafe to drive and puts you (the driver), passengers and the general public at risk. People under the influence of alcohol are more likely to take risks as inhibitions and urges are no longer repressed.

The effect of alcohol also varies from person to person, being influenced by a number of different factors, including:

• Weight, age and sex of the person (women are usually more affected by alcohol than men);
• Metabolic rate of the person;
• Type of alcohol drunk;
• Whether the person has eaten before drinking;
• Stress levels of the person.

So what is a ‘safe’ amount to drink if you are driving?

What is the drink drive limit?

The safest amount is of course zero, but in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland the limit is 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood; 107 mg per 100ml of urine; or 35 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 ml of breath.
In Scotland the limit is reduced to 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood; 67 mg per 100ml of urine or 22 microgrammes per 100 ml of breath.
Even just 10mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in your system apparently makes you 37% more likely to be involved in a fatal road accident – a sobering thought!
But how does that translate in terms of your humble pint or cold glass of white? How many units can you drink and drive? How much is 1 unit of alcohol?
The size of the drink and the strength of the alcohol determines the number of units in a drink. Drink Aware campaign publish this helpful guide:

Put simply, a pint of low strength (3.6%) lager, beer or cider is 2 units; a pint of higher strength (5.2%) is 3 units. A standard glass (175ml) average strength wine (12%) is over 2 units; a large glass (250ml) is 3 units. A single measure (25ml) of spirits is 1 unit.

Returning then to the original question: how long after drinking can you drive? In order to break down and process the alcohol, the body uses mainly enzymes in the liver. If you suffer from liver damage or the liver isn’t functioning properly, this process can take longer.
The average adult takes about an hour to process one unit of alcohol. And there is nothing you can do to speed this up or eliminate the alcohol in your body.
Rough guidelines are:

• 8 pints of beer would take 17 hours from when you’ve stopped drinking before driving
• 1 bottle of wine would take 11 hours from when you’ve stopped drinking before driving
• 2 pints of lager and 2 pints of cider would take 172 hours from when you’ve stopped drinking before driving.

So you may even be over the limit, the morning after the night before. If you know you will be driving the next day, opt for lower strength drinks, smaller measures, non-alcoholic drinks (even alternate them with alcoholic ones), and stop drinking alcohol well before the end of the night to give yourself to process any alcohol in your body.

Offence: Drunk in Charge of a Motor Vehicle

Defence: Mitigation

Millars Solicitors were instructed by Mr H who pleaded guilty to the offence of being drunk in charge of a motor vehicle.

Mr H faced a potential disqualification period of up to 12 months, and a possible custodial sentence.

Powerful mitigation was presented on Mr H’s behalf. The Court were persuaded by the arguments put forward and Mr H received 10 penalty points instead of a driving disqualification. It was advanced at Court that any period of disqualification would be devastating to Mr H. His position in his job would become untenable as he relied upon his driving licence to travel. Mr H was the main income provider within his household and he had real concerns that his mortgage payments would not be met and therefore would face repossession proceedings. The Magistrates were persuaded by the argument and imposed penalty points instead of a ban.

Offense: Speeding / Totting Up penalty points on driving licence

Defence: Exceptional Hardship

Millars Solicitors represented Miss T before High Wycombe Magistrates Court.

Miss T had accumulated 12 penalty points on her driving licence and therefore faced the minimum period of disqualification of six months in accordance with the totting up provisions.

Miss T had extensive mitigation that was advanced by Millars Solicitors at Court.  She is a single parent and was concerned that she would not be able to take her children to school, and she would also face the prospect of not earning an income and she would be unable to travel to work in the event of a driving disqualification.

The Court accepted the argument presented and Miss T was not disqualified from driving in the circumstances.

Place: Carlisle Magistrates Court, CA3 8QH

Offence: Speeding and Failing to Furnish Information

Millars Solicitors represented Mr M before Carlisle Magistrates Court.  Mr M was charged with speeding and failing to furnish information.  Mr M already had 6 penalty points on his driving licence and therefore faced a disqualification under the totting up provisions if he was convicted of failing to furnish information, as he would have received 6 penalty points for this offence.  Millars Solicitors managed to persuade the Crown Prosecution Service to discontinue the allegation of failing to furnish information on the condition that Mr M accepted the originating offence of speeding.  In the circumstances, Mr M was not disqualified from driving.

If you would like advice call our expert team now on 0800 999 5535 or submit your case here

Offence: Failure to provide

Defence: The Crown had not complied with the disclosure rules

Millars Solicitors represented Miss C before Stockport Magistrates Court on 4^th January 2019.  Miss C was charged with failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis.  We successfully persuaded the Court that her final reply on the prescribed MGDDA form was meant as an agreement to comply and not a refusal.  The Crown Prosecution Service had not provided relevant disclosure that had been requested.  At trial, the Judge accepted that the Crown had not complied with the disclosure rules and the case against Miss C was dismissed and she was therefore not disqualified at all from driving.

If you would like advice call our expert team now on 0800 999 5535 or submit your case here

Place:  Wirral Magistrates Court CH41,

Offence: Totting Up

Defence: Exceptional Hardship

Millars Solicitors represented Mr P before Wirral Magistrates Court.

Mr P had accumulated 12 penalty points and therefore faced disqualification for the minimum period of six months under the totting up provisions.  Exceptional hardship was advanced whereby we managed to persuade the Court that Mr P’s company could face potential liquidation and this could have resulted in redundancies for his staff.  The Court were persuaded that any disqualification would cause Mr P and his employees exceptional hardship and he was therefore not disqualified from driving at all.

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