Any help please - mitigation statement for driving offence

[Smashedavacado]

Please can anyone tell me if a mitigation statement can be written by a third party or the person themselves.
Background - I am supporting someone with autism who was involved in an accident driving with very poor eyesight. He will plead guilty but needs to explain his difficulties (why he made such a poor decision to drive etc) in the hope he will be allowed to drive when is eyesight is corrected. Not sure how likely this is.

Question. Should we phrase the statement as if from him and say he had help from myself and state the organisation I work for.
Or should i write it from me explaining about his autism .
He plans to do it by post - I think this is safer as if he goes to court he will struggle with questions and may well get argumentative due to his autism.
Just to note we have only starting supporting him since the accident - before he had no one.

Scotland here but either would be fine so long as you explain your role.

Keep it very factual and clear.

X is 46 years old.
X has been driving for 20 years.
X has no previous convictions.
X has no previous driving convictions.
X is pleading guilty at earliest opportunity.
X accepts responsibility for this offence. X failed to update eye test due to y and z.
X suffers from autism and takes such and such medication.
X receives whatever by way of income or benefits and could pay z towards a fine per week or month.
X lives alone or with whoever.

X has taken such and such steps (booked eye test or whatever) to address the problem and apologises for his actions causing this incident.

I would phrase it from him, and state that "I was assisted in preparing this statement by ABC"

Either would be fine but are you sure he can do it by post only? That sounds like a potentially serious offence - people can’t be disqualified from driving unless they attend in person so if that is a likely outcome I would expect that there would be an in person hearing. Do you or he have access to legal advice?

Oh and also if it is in person, make the court aware - court staff and magistrates/judges should make reasonable adjustments including more leeway for argumentative attitude or similar if this is flagged in advance.

I meant make the court aware of his autism!

Frankly, I'd get legal advice ASAP. A ban doesn't mean they'll never drive again, but it does present issues with getting insurance in the future.

They may also want the DVLA to reassess their suitability to hold a licence if poor decision making is such an issue that it's led to this scenario.

Will the person you are supporting make better decisions about when they are able to drive safely next time? How?

Honestly there's a lot of awful drivers putting other peoples' lives at risk by making bad decisions.

Thanks for all the comments which I will try to address.

Firstly he has no access to legal advice as there is no legal aid for driving offences of this nature. He is on minimum benefits and has no money to pay even a reduced amount. Would welcome any sugestions of free legal advice. I spent 45 minutes in a queue to CAB this morning then had to give up! I am not even sure they would be able to help.
Thanks for the tip re the need to attend court for a disqualification - I missed this in my original read of the paperwork. He said he would prefer to do it by post as would struggle to get there (in a different city) by himself and would find it very stressful. I am unable to accompany him - he has literally no family or friends.
I thought that the mitigation statement could clearly explain the facts. I am not sure how I could make sure those facts get put across if he had to answer questions in person.

The paperwork says "attending court to plead guilty lets you tell the court things , in your own words, which might he hard to explain in writing" In his case he would not effectively give all the background.
Perhaps he could take a pre-written statement for them to consider?
There are no contact details on the paperwork for me to check this.
I wonder if the best option is to send the initial postal guilty plee with the mitigation statement. At least then the court have all the background information. Then he can attend any subsequent court hearing if he is called for disqualification.
With regards to his safety to drive. I understand this completely and would not support him driving if he wasnt. He has had a clean driving licence for 40 years. His hope is that after his cataract operation that his eyesight will be back to normal. He is also hoping for leniency on any possible fine due to his very low income. This detail will be given in the financial statement though.

You can present two statements, one from him and one from your organisation.

He can explain why he did what he did, and what steps he is taking to make sure it doesn't happen again.

You can explain how his condition affects him and how you are supporting him in making better choices etc.

CorrBlimeyGG thank you.
Can he take these with him to the court if he goes in person. I have found an email for the court so hopefully they will confirm this.

I was going to suggest emailing the court so that’s good you’ve got the address. It’s fine for him to have notes with him but if he is questioned then he will be expected to answer the questions rather than just read the statement. However, needing to rely on a statement is definitely the kind of thing that could be taken into account as a reasonable adjustment so I would outline your concerns in an email to the court and hopefully they will offer some options. Also given he’s pleading guilty then any questioning would be minimal and should only be for clarification - if he’s unrepresented then the legal advisor in court (sometimes called the court clerk) would assist him with the process and explain things. Any fine would definitely be based on means so include all that info clearly. The sentencing guidelines for all offences are also published online so worth looking at for guidance too so you know what to expect.