This Case took place at Crawley Magistrates Court
To keep our client’s identity confidential, they will be referred to as ‘Teddy’ for this case study.
Teddy came to us after being charged with failure to provide a specimen for analysis.
Teddy informed us he had previously pleaded guilty to the offence due to overwhelming evidence against him. Teddy was scheduled to attend a hearing for Sentencing and required assistance presenting mitigation to reduce the sentence he received. Due to the many aggravating factors present in Teddy’s case, he was at high risk of a custodial sentence.
Teddy had acted aggressively towards officers, which has been recorded on CCTV and therefore the prosecution planned to present this evidence in court to push for a harsher sentence. Teddy advised us that he had not intentionally broken the law and had been concerned about being charged with drunk driving had his breath sample shown he was over the limit. A common misconception is that not providing a sample is better than providing a positive one. This is not true, in fact, refusal to provide a sample can actually put you at risk of a higher sentence!
Aggravating Factors for failure to provide a specimen for analysis include:
- Previous Convictions of the same nature (including drunk/drug driving)
- Failure to comply with current court orders
- Offences committed on licence or post-sentence supervision
- LGV, HGV, PSV etc.
- Poor road/weather conditions
- Carrying Passengers
- Driving for hire/reward (Uber/Taxi)
- Involved in an accident
- High Level of Traffic/Pedestrians in the vicinity
After a debrief with Teddy, we discussed his mitigation in-depth and determined which points should be embellished. We then deciphered which of his family/friends would be willing to prepare a Character Reference. As a big aspect of Teddy’s mitigation was the loss of his job, we also advised he to obtain a supporting statement from his employer as this would demonstrate to the court the hardship Teddy would face.
We offer assistance to all of our clients with preparing Character References and Supporting Statements. If you are an existing client and would like assistance please call one of our team on 0330 912 2124.
At Teddy’s hearing, we presented his in-depth mitigation and supporting statements/references to the judges. We invited the judges to consider a drink awareness course and a community service order as opposed to a custodial sentence. The Judges took Teddy’s mitigation into consideration and agreed to allow him to complete an alcohol awareness course, which would reduce the driving disqualification he received. The Judges also sentenced Teddy to a community service order and agreed to not proceed with a custodial sentence. We also obtained a 25% reduction against Teddy’s fine.
As Teddy was at high risk of a custodial sentence, this was a great result for our client and evidences how instructing a solicitor to assist with your Sentencing, can really help obtain the results you want.
Teddy was very pleased to have avoided a custodial sentence and passed on his gratitude to all involved.
If you have been charged with failure to provide and require the assistance of one of our motoring specialists, please give the team a call on 0330 912 2124.