Solicitors On Your Side are a bespoke law firm, specialising in motoring offences. We act for many clients throughout the UK and one question that comes up time and time again is; Can a solicitor help reduce a drink driving ban?
Facing a Drink Driving conviction can feel like a daunting position to be in; especially given the great impact a driving disqualification can have on your life. If you have been charged with drink driving, then yes, a Solicitor can help reduce your driving ban in a number of ways; such as identifying potential defences and investigating the way the procedure was carried out. Below we look more into how we work to mitigate sentencing after a charge.
Issues With Evidence & Police Procedure
In some cases, there may have been an issue with how police procedure was carried out. When you are found to be under suspicion of Drink Driving, you will be asked to provide a sample of either breath, blood or urine. As a statutory safeguard, it is a requirement for an MGDD document to be completed with you by a police officer during the testing procedure. As the police are human and make mistakes, the MGDD form is not always completed correctly and mistakes can be made. If this is the case there is a possibility you will be not be convicted. Your instructed solicitor will be able to look into the prospects of this by obtaining an IDPC (Initial Details of the Prosecution’s Case); which will set out the evidence they hold against you and include the MGDD form. This enables your solicitor to check if police procedure was carried out correctly or if any inconsistency’s lie within it.
Other aspects your solicitor can look into are witness statements from the police, CCTV showing breath, blood or urine procedure, body worn video and the schedule of unused material. If an inaccuracy can be found within any of these aspects this can be enough, in some cases, to have you charge dismissed.
Potential Defences
Alcohol consumption succeeding driving
If you have consumed alcohol after driving a vehicle and this is responsible for you exceeding the legal limit; this would suffice as a full statutory defence and the court will cease to convict you if this can be proved successfully. It must be proved that there is a realistic probability that you consumed alcohol in-between leaving your vehicle and providing a sample. This may require an independent expert witness being instructed to produce a blood alcohol concentration calculation. This will provide evidence to strengthen your defence.
Duress
If at the time the suspected offence took place you were in a situation that compelled you to drive whilst intoxicated this could be a potential defence. It is important to note that this defence is only available in extreme cases. This would include scenarios such as a genuine fear for your life, if you had not driven or a genuine threat of substantial violence. If this defence was to be used, the prosecution would have to prove this to be untrue. They would investigate if there was a real threat present or perceived. The distance driven would also be taken into consideration; for e.g., whether you have driven a short distance to get to a safe location or driven for an unnecessary longer period of time.
Private Land
It is only an offence to drive over the legal alcohol limit in a public place or on a road. This would include a hotel’s surrounding area and car parks. For a defence to be available it must be proven that there is no public access to the area the arrest was made.
Mitigation
Mitigation is a great way of demonstrating and drawing attention to the judge/court the positive aspects of the case. This can encourage the judge/s to understand the reasons/events that led up to the offence in question. By identify mitigating factors related to the case, this can help reduce the serious nature of the offence. These factors include:
- Driving a short distance
- Young Age
- No Previous convictions
- No pedestrians at risk
- No passengers
Although mitigation can help reduce your sentence, it is not a defence. Presenting mitigation is a way of encouraging the court to give you a more lenient sentence; even if you are found to be guilty of the offence. It is important to demonstrate to the court how a driving disqualification would affect your day-to-day life and those close to you. This can include the affects it will have on you retaining your employment and therefore being able to maintain paying bills and affording everyday essentials. It can be helpful to attain a supporting statement from your work place to support this. If this will affect a partner/family member you support with use of your vehicle or wages, they could also provide a supporting statement/character reference.
It is important to show the court you are remorseful for committing the offence…
It is important to show the court you are remorseful of committing the offence in question and that this will not happen again. You may be questioned on whether you are willing to take an awareness course to evidence this. In some cases, this may also be offered by the magistrates and once completed can deduct a percentage of time from your disqualification.
Should your mitigation be accepted and your circumstances understood by the magistrates/judge, your disqualification period may be reduced. There is no legal obligation for this to happen though, which is why it’s important to include as much compelling relevant information as possible. Your solicitor will be able to help you identify which elements of your situation will be useful.
Contact our solicitors today
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