Police / Lawyer Legal advice urgently needed please 🙏🏽

[Newfor2021]

Hello,
I’d greatly appreciate any advice from someone with a professional background who might be able to offer any advice in these circumstances please?

My son was caught driving his car as a learner driver without a responsible driver / supervisor.

As he’s 17 they de-arrested him at the scene, brought him home, told me (I’d been asleep) and have now fixed an interview date for Wednesday.

My question is there are some mitigating circumstances which will support his reasons as to why he was driving.
Should he just verbalise them in the interview or should he prepare a written statement beforehand? He could also ask some of the people involved to write supporting testimonies - again should he just say these people are prepared to do this or should we gather these before Wednesday?

Thank you in advance for any professional guidance.

A few questions I suspect I will get asked:

He’s planning to plead guilty and at the time apologised profusely and immediately stated why he was going and where he was driving to.

I was going to use the duty solicitor - however I have been advised to ignore their advice to go ‘No comment’ as this will only annoy the police and stop them having the ability to go more lenient on him.

I am in no way supporting or condoning his behaviour!
I am of course dealing with the consequences of his actions - however my child is in his first ever legal trouble and as his mum I will do everything in my power to help and support him from obtaining a criminal record at 17 - as believe it or not he wants to join the police force and this would of course stop him!

I think he deserves all he gets. He could have killed someone. At least he won’t be on the roads for years now.

Speak to a solicitor. This is too big a thing to trust the advice of some randoms on the internet - you have no idea of those people’s qualifications etc. Sometimes it baffles me the things people think it’s a good idea to ask for advice on mumsnet.

The only mitigating circumstances that could be used are someone told him they had a driving license for over a certain number of years etc... and they were lying to your son.

To add, my family member is a criminal solicitor!!

has he got any evidence he wants to join the police? Just wondering if he has it may swing things slightly if he mentions this when he has his interview.

He's got himself a criminal record at 17. Get a solicitor and look at new careers for him too.

Its an absolute offence, or as someone has already put it.....he's bang to rights. He will likely be prosecuted with it being in the public interest to do so. I don't think there's any mitigation (short of being half way to hospital with someone dying in back of the car) that would change this. What the mitigation could possibly change is the sentence. This would be completely down to the court not the police. He would need to present this mitigation in the police interview. Definitely get a solicitor. Unless it has changed (I'm a bit out of date), you can choose your own solicitor without charge at the police station, which you can arrange in advance to save time. Any prior or subsequent advice outside of the police station would likely be chargeable. If your son is pleading guilty, and offering mitigation, it's difficult to imagine a solicitor would advise a no comment interview.

So it wasn't his/your car and he wasn't insured to drive it. Is his friend a legal driver? I'm not sure your legal cover would apply. Has the car been impounded too?

Jeez....What a crazy thing to do.
Especially as he wants to join the police of all things!

However...would this definitely stop someone from becoming a Copper?

I had to have an ''Enhanced'' Criminal record check for a position, and they said all cautions and driving offences should be mentioned.

I had a minor thing at 17 I 'fessed up to in advance, and it wasn't even mentioned on the Enhanced record.

People at 17 can be stupid. I definitely was.

@Newfor2021 Good luck.

I used to work in Police admin. I knew several officers with convictions, I also knew a couple who went to prison but that was what ended their careers not prevented them.

He won’t have a criminal record for driving unsupervised & without insurance - neither of these is a recordable offence so will not show on a criminal record:
www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/1139/made.

He will get at least 6 penalty points, not necessarily a disqualification. And he will be fined.

The duty solicitor will be a local criminal solicitor. Some are better than others. You can choose your own solicitor and I suggest asking around for recommendations.
If your son does have exceptional circumstances which led to the commission of the offence, the solicitor will advise him what to do. It is not advisable to go no comment if you do have specific grounds which you hope will excuse your actions.

I think the comments about duty solicitors in the thread are incredibly unfair and rude. They aren't just the worst of the bunch hanging about at the police station waiting for a call in, they are (in the case of my firm at least) professional and competent, and who you would have been allocated to had you rang up the office and asked for representation.

OP I'd advise you regardless to contact a firm in your local area that offers assistance with road traffic offences and get advice. It gives more time for the case to be considered rather than the very short time prior to interview.

Or he could just be truthful and admit what he did.

I have no advice but I have had a 17 year old son. Those on here posting smart arse comments have a lot to learn. Unfortunately, your lovely, sensible, children can turn into irresponsible, stupidly behaved teenagers, in the blink of an eye.

My heart goes out to you @Newfor2021 and I sincerely hope the outcome for your son isn't too awful.

@Froggie456

Do not let your son speak to the police without a solicitor present. Too many young people accept cautions, because they are told they can go and not realising it will still have massive implications for their career etc. You don't have to rely on the duty solicitor. He's under 18 so is entitled to legal aid. Call round some criminal solicitors on Monday and let them take the lead.

The police aren't just going to let your son go if he doesn't turn up with a solicitor on Wednesday. If they wanted to just tell him off/turn a blind eye they wouldn't have called him for interview.

This. So true and so damaging for the future but a lot of people don’t realise you don’t have to accept a caution

At least he won’t be on the roads for years now

I wouldn't want to automatically assume that

Even if it comes to a ban, banning and preventing are two different things

He won’t have a criminal record for driving unsupervised & without insurance - neither of these is a recordable offence so will not show on a criminal record

You have misunderstood what a “recordable offence” is.

Just because an offence is not recordable does not mean there is not a criminal conviction.

No judgement here, you sound like you’re going through the wringer without people piling on you.

Re joining the police, he may well be still in with a chance, the standards vary force to force, I’m astonished that some have been recruited recently to my local force and have criminal convictions, obviously minor. He needs to be utterly honest, co-operative and not give some shit excuse as to why he felt it necessary to drive when he doesn’t have a licence or insurance. Just remind him to be extremely apologetic/show remorse. At 17, I would not expect him to deal with this alone, particularly if you are using your household insurance, who will only deal with you. Saying that, he can pay the excess/increased premium!

@Chooseausernamenow

Or he could just be truthful and admit what he did.

Having been asked to be a witness in an animal cruelty case I was appalled when the defendant got off. The defendant didn't admit to guilt.

Defendant just denied everything... Proving things can be very difficult.

{It was a real eye opener}
A good solicitor can clearly work wonders!.

The Met Police is an automatic rejection for 5 years for no insurance, licence etc.tbh if he is planning uni and some life experience before applying, it's not the end of the world.

He should take accountability, he drove without a license. Why did the police stop him? It's very unusual to be just randomly stopped. Speak to a solicitor, but also realise what he did was dangerous, illegal, and in honesty trying to help him weasel out of it is pretty pathetic.

@Puzzledandpissedoff

At least he won’t be on the roads for years now

I wouldn't want to automatically assume that

Even if it comes to a ban, banning and preventing are two different things

To all intents and purposes, he'll be uninsurable for years.

Probably for the best.

IANAL but wanted to say to you OP that I feel your pain - totally different scenario and my DS was much younger, and as a result of his utter idiocy will be unable to visit the US under current laws.

He's now 26 and a kind upstanding member of the community, but I well remember the fear and panic of having to deal with the police, make sure he was properly represented within the law and advocated for while simultaneously not condoning the idiocy in any way.

Attitude and a "responsible stable" home life did much to mitigate the circumstances, which could have been much worse.

It's a lesson in life indeed, which you seem to have a good balanced handle on, and I wish you and your DS well for the future.

I remember well arriving at the police station in a state of mixed fear and fury, and the arresting officer taking me aside and saying "It's not the end of the world" - which it seemed to be in the moment. He was right. It wasn't the beginning of a criminal career, more a moment of utter stupidity. This too will pass.

He will get at least 6 penalty points, not necessarily a disqualification. And he will be fined

But if he's made himself effectively uninsurable, the question of whether he gets an actual disqualification is surely a moot point

Unless he expects to drive uninsured in future too, and good luck with that

@Druidlookingidiot

I have no advice but I have had a 17 year old son. Those on here posting smart arse comments have a lot to learn. Unfortunately, your lovely, sensible, children can turn into irresponsible, stupidly behaved teenagers, in the blink of an eye.

My heart goes out to you @Newfor2021 and I sincerely hope the outcome for your son isn't too awful.

Agree. Even studious ''Well behaved'' teens can have insane moments of not thinking.

If you’re asking if there are any mitigating situations, then there’s obviously isn’t. If there were, such as taking someone to hospital, then you would know about it.

Why was he driving the car at 17 without an adult as a learner?