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!

@Newfor2021

That’s who gave me the advice to ignore any solicitor advice of ‘no comment’ she says as a police woman it not only annoys them but means they can’t actually be lenient on the youth because it forces them to pursue some sort of prosecution?

But I may have got that wrong! But that was my understanding.

This is right - he may be eligible for a youth caution, but he can only get a youth caution if he admits the offence - see 4.2 of the guidance assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/354050/yjb-youth-cautions-police-YOTs.pdf

You might also want to look at the sections on youth cautions and motoring here: www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/youth-offenders

And on minor offences here: www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/minor-offences

He already admitted and immediately apologised to the Police and explained straight away why he was driving, as I said he wasn’t driving dangerously it was a routine check as it was 1am.

Er, after they caught him when he ran away you mean? That's not immediately apologising and explaining ffs.

Teenage drama is not an excuse and your son is not a hero.

It's so depressing seeing parents who think they are being kind to their kids by running around in circles to excuse them and get them off the hook. It's not kindness, it's setting them up for much worse trouble later.

@Incogweeto

He already admitted and immediately apologised to the Police and explained straight away why he was driving, as I said he wasn’t driving dangerously it was a routine check as it was 1am.

Er, after they caught him when he ran away you mean? That's not immediately apologising and explaining ffs.

Teenage drama is not an excuse and your son is not a hero.

It's so depressing seeing parents who think they are being kind to their kids by running around in circles to excuse them and get them off the hook. It's not kindness, it's setting them up for much worse trouble later.

Yes because it’s so much better when your kid fucks up to walk away and dust your hands of them hoping they get the worst possible punishment and outcome ensuring they have a criminal record and are stopped from following their dreams. Yes I totally see your point!

Thank you so much, I’ll have a read of the links

I do really appreciate all of the helpful and kind advice so thank you all

Ooos above post was for @ElfAndSafetyInspector for the links :)

Jesus, your sons not a good guy. He broke the law, endangered people and yet still you want to explain away him breaking the law. Take off the rose tinted glasses..he’s an arsehole.

I’ve made mistakes in my life, but running from the police...just never, no.

Let’s hope the justice system deals him appropriate justice. The blot on his history should hopefully prevent him from becoming a law enforcer because he broke every rule...
Social distancing
Valid driving licence
Valid insurance
Stopping when the police asked him to.

If he was my son I’d be letting him take the consequences.

To be fair, I think Incogweeto was probably just meaning that you'd be better off being honest (both to him and to yourself) about the fact that there aren't really any mitigating circumstances here.

This was a drama which he let himself be sucked into. Learning to draw boundaries, and recognise the limits of what you can/should do to help others, is an important life lesson. He will emerge wiser from this, and next time he will call her parents, the police, or an ambulance if she asks for help.

This is a harsh way to learn that lesson though - lots of teenagers get sucked into this sort of drama, but most don't end up with a criminal record. Fingers crossed that whatever the outcome is, it doesn't debar him from the career he wants.

@Belinda554

Jesus, your sons not a good guy. He broke the law, endangered people and yet still you want to explain away him breaking the law. Take off the rose tinted glasses..he’s an arsehole.

I’ve made mistakes in my life, but running from the police...just never, no.

Let’s hope the justice system deals him appropriate justice. The blot on his history should hopefully prevent him from becoming a law enforcer because he broke every rule...
Social distancing
Valid driving licence
Valid insurance
Stopping when the police asked him to.

If he was my son I’d be letting him take the consequences.

Do you have son aged 17? I've been there and I can tell you the teenage years can be hell.

I really feel for @Newfor2021, who is clearly trying her very best. Posts like yours are so unhelpful.

@Belinda554

Jesus, your sons not a good guy. He broke the law, endangered people and yet still you want to explain away him breaking the law. Take off the rose tinted glasses..he’s an arsehole.

I’ve made mistakes in my life, but running from the police...just never, no.

Let’s hope the justice system deals him appropriate justice. The blot on his history should hopefully prevent him from becoming a law enforcer because he broke every rule...
Social distancing
Valid driving licence
Valid insurance
Stopping when the police asked him to.

If he was my son I’d be letting him take the consequences.

Do you feel better now you've been so rude?

Yes and I’ve been a teenager. I grew up to be a good law abiding member of society, because no fucking way my parents would have supported my illegal behaviour.

I’ve also had a friend killed by a teenager. No licence/ insurance/ high on drugs...dead due to a child like OPs. But that ok isn’t it as she wants to help him avoid justice.....

Oh no its not. Or maybe you would like to explain to my friends children that it’s ok, because he was just a teenager....they can grow up with a mum...

Yes @sunflowersandbuttercups

Because the truth of enabling a criminal should be exposed....would you be happy if he murdered your family member?

The OPs son is very bloody lucky that he didn't kill anyone. That's bad enough without imagining that he did.

He will face the consequence of his actions, but his actions (in this case) didn't include killing anyone.

@Belinda554

Yes *@sunflowersandbuttercups*

Because the truth of enabling a criminal should be exposed....would you be happy if he murdered your family member?

But he didn't, did he? So no need to treat him like a murderer when he's not one

Everyone makes mistakes. Especially teenagers influenced by their friends. I'm sure OP feels bad/worried enough without you jumping on and being completely unpleasant for no reason.

It’s it unpleasant to point out he’s an arsehole. Good guys don’t break the law because it suits them.

OP, I'm not trying to stick the boot into a pretty rubbish situation, but are you 100% certain that your son's version of events is true?

If this the first time he's ever done this, and he was not driving badly, then he's very, very unlucky to have been stopped. I've been driving (hopefully competently enough) for 20+ years - including lots of late-night driving - and I've only ever been pulled over once

i think calling him an arsehole has been uncalled for.

But his behaviour is a fair bit beyond the youthful hijinks some people seem keen to dismiss it as. Lots of us were reckless in our teens; few of us have criminal records for driving without a licence and insurance.

@Belinda554

It’s it unpleasant to point out he’s an arsehole. Good guys don’t break the law because it suits them.

But the OP is well aware of how stupid he's been.

She doesn't need people to put the boot in and make her feel even worse. Your post had no real point other than to make her feel bad - it's just unnecessary.

@thedancingbear

OP, I'm not trying to stick the boot into a pretty rubbish situation, but are you 100% certain that your son's version of events is true?

If this the first time he's ever done this, and he was not driving badly, then he's very, very unlucky to have been stopped. I've been driving (hopefully competently enough) for 20+ years - including lots of late-night driving - and I've only ever been pulled over once

Yeah, I must admit I thought the same.

I've driven very late at night many, many times over the years I've been driving, and only been stopped once. The reason they gave was that my rear light was out (fair cop, I hadn't realised, so I apologised and told them, truthfully, that I'd get it sorted ASAP) but they also breathalysed me as it was just before Xmas and they were breathalysing everyone they stopped

That's literally the only time I've ever been pulled over - I'm not aware that police carry out 'routine' stops with no reason, even at 1am.

(Just to clarify - the breathalyser was clear, I was driving home from work, hadn't been drinking at all)

Yes they pulled him over for no reason, I did check this at the time.
He was driving perfectly fine.... till he wasn’t and legged it.

Tbh the Police were really lovely when they brought him home, if anything they were the ones excusing his behaviour and actually said ‘We know he’s a good lad’ and were reassuring him that he’ll be ok and they’d do their best to make sure it doesn’t jeopardise him getting into the police, whilst also saying that it was a very serious incident and he could of harmed someone etc and so they’ll formally process this and interview him.

My son said that the second he apologised they were all brilliant with him, helping him to cough by patting his back, getting him something warm etc.

The interesting thing is the police were so great with him, it’s made my son want to join the police force even more now

Meanwhile I’ve gone grey overnight!!

OP

I think you’d best take the advice of a solicitor who is experienced in this field. I also think you need to clarify his version of events, there’s a few holes in the story you’ve been told- he was very unlucky to be stopped if he was driving entirely safely or not doing anything suspicious, for instance.

However, I think you really do need to think about your approach to this. I would not advocating throwing him to the wolves and would support my child too- e.g. by ensuring they are properly represented by a solicitor. But you do seem awfully keen to minimise/excuse/exonerate him and I don’t think that’s really the right call at all.

He did something that was completely reckless, irresponsible and stupid. He broke several laws. Whether YOU think he is a safe driver is neither here nor there and in no way excuses him. I find all your reasoning/excuses quite hard to justify. The reasons you have given as “mitigating circumstances” really aren’t anything of the sort- and I’m surprised you genuinely believe that this amounts to a good reason to break the law. I can’t see what mitigating circumstance you’ve outlined excuses running from the police.

I think you need to be careful he really understands (not just lip-service) that there is no excuse and he was, plain and simply, in the wrong. If he gets off without legal punishments, I do hope you will not let him off without any other consequences. At the very least he has proven that he is far too immature and lacks the common sense to be in charge of a car.

was this your car he used, in which case there may be a charge of taking without the owner's consent.
if you say you did consent, then you are complicit in the offence.
why could he not ask you to supervise his driving, that would have been better, all being well you would not have needed to actually drive.
the whole thing sounds a bit cock-eyed.
and if someone is suicidal, you call their parents and/or ambulance.

@jacks11

OP

I think you’d best take the advice of a solicitor who is experienced in this field. I also think you need to clarify his version of events, there’s a few holes in the story you’ve been told- he was very unlucky to be stopped if he was driving entirely safely or not doing anything suspicious, for instance.

However, I think you really do need to think about your approach to this. I would not advocating throwing him to the wolves and would support my child too- e.g. by ensuring they are properly represented by a solicitor. But you do seem awfully keen to minimise/excuse/exonerate him and I don’t think that’s really the right call at all.

He did something that was completely reckless, irresponsible and stupid. He broke several laws. Whether YOU think he is a safe driver is neither here nor there and in no way excuses him. I find all your reasoning/excuses quite hard to justify. The reasons you have given as “mitigating circumstances” really aren’t anything of the sort- and I’m surprised you genuinely believe that this amounts to a good reason to break the law. I can’t see what mitigating circumstance you’ve outlined excuses running from the police.

I think you need to be careful he really understands (not just lip-service) that there is no excuse and he was, plain and simply, in the wrong. If he gets off without legal punishments, I do hope you will not let him off without any other consequences. At the very least he has proven that he is far too immature and lacks the common sense to be in charge of a car.

AIBU is that way >>>

@alexdgr8

was this your car he used, in which case there may be a charge of taking without the owner's consent. if you say you did consent, then you are complicit in the offence. why could he not ask you to supervise his driving, that would have been better, all being well you would not have needed to actually drive. the whole thing sounds a bit cock-eyed. and if someone is suicidal, you call their parents and/or ambulance.

‘If someone is suicidal, you call their parents and or an ambulance’

That’s really not how it works with teenagers today.
I work with a local young persons mental health charity.

Sadly the teenagers don’t want the parents to know, many of their friends don’t have the parents contact details, often they don’t even know where each other live - yet they’re sharing on social media them crying / self harming / photos of tablets etc

It is terrifying. There is a mental health pandemic happening right now with our younger generation and your comment shows that actually life is really not as black and white as you think it is.

“He was driving a few miles down the road as his friend was cutting herself and was suicidal. 2 weeks ago this happened with another of his friends, I refused to drive to her (the previous friend) and she ended up unconscious in a bus stop and 2 days in hospital.
He knew I couldn’t drive as I’d taken a Diazepam for my back. “

He totally needs to tell them he likes to help people and that’s why he wants to be in the police. They’ll melt (inwardly)