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Original poster

AIBU to think I can fight this? Mumsnetters I need your help!

283 replies

FigureItOutNow · 09/09/2017 10:11

Please be gentle with me - I'm very stressed over this!
Sorry it'll be a long post but bear with me.

Last week my divorce from a very abusive husband was finalised. I'm late 20s with 3kids under 7 from this man. As part of the abuse he completely isolated me from my family.
Anyway my younger sister has some friends in a nearby big city - she said if I could find a sitter she'd come to this city and we could go out with some of her friends to celebrate (I have no friends at the moment). My neighbours 20year old daughter offered to babysit overnight as long as I was back by 9 as she had work later that day.

On the night out I drove up to city with intention that if I wasn't in a fit state to drive back home by 8am next morning I would get a taxi back home and then come back with my kids on the train ( they love trains) to pick up my car so I parked it somewhere where I knew I wouldn't be charged if I had to leave it at 8am.

On night out I managed to drink far more than I could handle (easy as I haven't drank in years due to abusive ex being controlling). I started feeling really sick at about midnight (2hours into the night) and somehow got split from my sister and her friends. I was feeling really crap and decided to go sleep in my car. I messaged my sister and told her where I was and she said that's fine they'll get me from the car on the way back to her friends.

I was fast asleep in passenger siding my car but alarm kept going off and someone called the police. They came at about 3am and it took them about 5min to wake me up as I was so gone. Anyway they started trying to say that I was drink driving and I said how could I be drink driving if I'm fast asleep in the passenger side? Lots of yeah but you were planning to weren't you/stop lying/ tell the truth type of statements. I was so upset at this point called my sister and had her confirm our plans, even showed them our messages with our plans to go back to her friends.
There were 4 police officers at this point and I could hear discussing if they could charge me with drink driving to which one of them said no but they could charge with being drunk and in charge of a vehicle. They came and told me that they were arresting me for this charge. They asked me to breathalyser but I refused as I was paranoid they were trying to frame me for drink driving (I know I know but I was really drunk and this was a stupid thought process) and I asked them so many times why they wanted to breathalyser me when I had openly admitted that I was drunk and NO INTENTION at all of driving but was waiting on my sister and her friends.

Anyway they arrested me - so so so distressing for me as I've been driving since I was 18 never had a parking/speeding/any ticket whatsoever as I'm one of those annoying people that follows the law to T as I'm terrified of getting arrested (oh the irony).

In the end I spent the night and most of the day in cells, they dropped all charges except the one of failure to cooperate by refusing to breathalyser so please mumsnetters help me figure out if I can fight this. I'm a lone parent and I work in the healthcare industry so could potentially lose my job over this as my solicitor said it would come up as a criminal record in all my pre-work checks!!!

I don't understand why the officer never said it was a criminal offence to refuse the breathalyser, when he asked me to do it and I said I didn't understand why he was asking me to do it he said that he was asking me to do it and that was all the reason he was giving

OP posts:
Gorgosparta · 09/09/2017 19:59

The OP said she was going to sleep then get a taxi back in the morning didn't she, not drive back?

Then she was going to take the kids on a train back to pick the car up. You point out she would have been over the limit the next day. She would have been over the limit with her kids in the car

KityGlitr · 09/09/2017 20:42

I assume if she was that drunk though she'd have left it longer to go back and get the car. I can't recall how much she said she'd drank earlier in the thread but there's nothing to say she'd have woken up still tipsy or hungover as hell and gone straight to get the car with the kids. I know I've had mornings after a night before where I had thought beforehand I'd be okay to drive but realised I wasn't so didn't.

worridmum · 09/09/2017 20:42

btw the police cannot "just" get a blood sample they ether need the consent of the person or a court order (unlikely to happen to be fair) so they can just refuse hence the need for the charge of refusing to give sample as otherwise they would get away with the crime as under the current law police and or doctors cannot simply take blood or force a test and a court order would take a better part of a day to get so would be useless so people would just refuse to give samples and get away with it.....

ChristmasFluff · 09/09/2017 20:43

Not RTFT, but a conviction for failure to co-operate by taking a breath test won't be a problem in a healthcare job. My sister is working right now in healthcare with a drink-drive conviction to her name. Hoe that puts your mind at rest a little

Teebird669 · 09/09/2017 21:08

So there's no choice in the matter..if you're asked for a sample you MUST comply..or be charged for not complying..
What about possesion is 9/10ths of the law..its MY breath and i don't want to provide it !?

hairymaryquitecontrary · 09/09/2017 21:11

You can't seriously think that nobody has to give a breath sample if they don't want to? Nobody would ever get caught drink driving if that was the case!

busyboysmum · 09/09/2017 21:18

My brother got a 2 year ban for failure to Provide. He was sleeping it off in his campervan.

Teebird669 · 09/09/2017 21:23

Of course not. But if it's compulsory and you refuse then the police should legally be able to take a blood sample without a court order

Manclife · 09/09/2017 21:26

Or....rather than trying to get blood from someone who doesn't want you to take it. Just make failing to provide an offence. Oh wait...

hairymaryquitecontrary · 09/09/2017 21:29

Of course not. But if it's compulsory and you refuse then the police should legally be able to take a blood sample without a court order

Of course they shouldn't. Who would draw it, for a start? Blood is not the same as breath, it;s invasive.

Teebird669 · 09/09/2017 21:38

Yes it's invasive but you was offered the non invasive option first so it would be a consequence of your choice..the police have fully qualified first aiders who could draw it. However you could say waking someone up who was clearly in a deep sleep is invasive

Manclife · 09/09/2017 21:57

First aider drawing blood. Are you serious?!

clownfaces · 09/09/2017 22:00

What country are you in OP? In England you don't appear in court the following day. You certainly wouldn't have appeared before a judge. You must have your bail sheet which will tell you where and when you need to appear?

clownfaces · 09/09/2017 22:02

Teebird It would be extremely difficult to take blood from someone who refused to consent.

hairymaryquitecontrary · 09/09/2017 22:02

However you could say waking someone up who was clearly in a deep sleep is invasive

Not if you understood what the word invasive means, you couldn't.

Teebird669 · 09/09/2017 22:04

I did say fully qualified!

hairymaryquitecontrary · 09/09/2017 22:07

A first aider isn't qualified, fully or other, to draw blood

Teebird669 · 09/09/2017 22:15

Well they are qualified to save lives! Funny that...they can save a life but not draw blood! I think you'll find there ARE different levels of first aiders..however this is going off topic

Teebird669 · 09/09/2017 22:20

Invasive: tending to intrude on ones thoughts or privacy

RainbowBriteRules · 09/09/2017 22:23

Invasive has a different meaning in medical terms - an example would be that it is anything that breaks the skin (not quite the correct definition but am too tired to look one up now!). First aiders cannot usually take bloods although I am happy to be corrected.

RainbowBriteRules · 09/09/2017 22:25

Actually a better definition is anything which enters the body. E.g. putting a plaster on or a breathalyser is non-invasive. Taking blood is invasive.

Teebird669 · 09/09/2017 22:49

Anatomy of First Aid: A Case Study Approach

Drawing Blood and Transfusion

SoPassRemarkable · 09/09/2017 23:09

Police employ qualified nurses/doctors to do any necessary samples. Afaik not first aiders, certainly not locally anyway.

hairymaryquitecontrary · 09/09/2017 23:10

(of medical procedures) involving the introduction of instruments or other objects into the body or body cavities

Invasive. CONTEXT. Do you need that defined as well?

Manclife · 09/09/2017 23:11

As well as legislation to allow it, PACE would need changing, officer would need training and even then if the person struggles even a tiny bit it can't be done. Thank You for contributing but leave the grown ups to talk.