What have you got to do to get this length of ban?

[solice84]

I'm about to take alcoholic ex to court over custody of our dc
Like most addicts he lies to cover his level of addiction and to carry on drinking
He has been banned for drink driving
For 3 years
He won't tell me what happened
Will the courts look into this?
The incident happened on the way to work , and he has since lost his job due to this.
Am I to understand this is a pretty severe ban which can't just be from being 'a little bit over from the night before' ?
I've read stories in the papers of other people crashing , injuring people etc and still not getting this length of ban.
Also . This is definitely the first time he has been caught so it's not a 3 years for a second offence scenario

This will help https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/magistrates-court/item/excess-alcohol-driveattempt-to-drive-revised-2017/

To summarise, it's 36 months if a 2nd offence whatever the level of alcohol, otherwise 36 months comes with a prison term with very high levels.

Yeah prison term or high level community order
I'm guessing he hasn't got a prison term
Claims he hasn't got a community order but , obviously I can't believe a word he says .
100% not a second offence so this is based on this one incident.

Yeah if this is his first conviction (how sure are you that he hasn't already had one and carried on driving anyway?) Then a 36 month ban indicates he's blown over 120

It's vastly unlikely that he hasn't had some other punishment as well. The starting point for this type of offence is 12 weeks custody but the range of sentencing options (as well as the driving ban) is a high level community order to 26 weeks custody.

He was properly pissed by the sounds of things. Not just hungover from the night before, he'd had a drink before getting in the car.

Also how long do these things usually take to go to court ?
He was still driving for 5 months between getting caught and getting banned
Is that normal ?
Of course he lied to me for those 5 months saying he hadn't blown over the limit
I've found all the information myself . He's lied continuously.

This smacks to me that when he says he he got caught - usually this would be straight into court and a ban - but carried on driving for 5 months, caught again and 36 months.

@Ariela well this has also crossed my mind
But believe me . I KNOW , I don't just think that there is only 1 on his record . I know this 100% .
It did seem a long time for them to let someone drive around for an incident that warranted such a lengthy ban

Or of course he was telling the truth about the incident 5 months prior , and then he's been caught sackless drunk more recently 🤷‍♀️
Either way i'm sure the courts can look into this
He did tell me at the time that they had 6 months to prosecute or let him off
His original story was that he blew slightly over at the roadside but under in the station (so clearly either bullshit, or he was caught again and was well over the limit)

Honestly, if they don't get you in court the next morning it's that week. So if he was caught 5 months ago, I'll bet you he got a ban immediately but carried on driving and now got caught again and this is his second ban for another DD incident (or being caught driving on a ban, again will go to court quickly) hence 36 months.

He's lying to you.

Oh I know he's lying
Lying out of his arse and has done for years
Still thinks I will be laughed out of court and 'put back in my box'

But then if it was a second ban wouldn't both bans be on his record?
There is only 1

Either way . I know he's been banned for 3 years so now I have back up for my claims that he has issues with alcohol
Previously he has told me he will just tell everyone I'm crazy , that he has a good job and no record or evidence relating to his drinking
Now he has no job and a criminal record . Due to drinking. He can lie all he wants but I know he's been banned . I suppose the circumstances aren't important .

Where are you getting this information from?

I was caught DD, very regrettably.
I was arrested in the April first lockdown but didn't lose my licence until I went to court in the July due to court delays (original court date for pleading was May but cancelled twice) so I was still driving legally until then, when I pleaded guilty. I had a very high reading and received a two year ban plus 100hrs community payback and a fine. You are able to reduce length of ban by 25% if you pay about £150 to do a DD course which was on line when I did it.

@Iudncuewbccgrcb a VERY reliable source .

The courts have access to criminal records and do so back ground checks - the why and when etc isn’t important.

Also - court orders are public record - look on your local court website - the only ones not are family courts to protect children.

But it's not the kind of information that just anyone can access

so unless your source is someone in the police, DVLA, someone that has access to his Shared Driving Licence code (e.g. he's a HGV driver and his employer can check his license because he's given them access to do so), or e.g someone in motor insurance who has checked MyLicence then this reliable source is surely also only working off what they have been able to work out for themselves? If it was any of the above people then they would probably also be able to tell you more information than what you have got?

It may not make a difference but equally it might. A problem drinker that's been caught twice and still doesn't admit he has an issue vs a man who made a big one off mistake and got caught and is going to make big changes are two different beasts when asking a judge to decide on contact arrangements. You probably do need to know.

@Iudncuewbccgrcb I know and this is the frustrating thing . All I know is the details of the ban
Not if he's injured someone
Not if he was falling about drunk at the scene
Not if the previous incident was true and he's been caught since then and the courts have taken the previous one into account
Not sure how I find this out or how deep the courts delve into the background

Do you think it may have been reported in the local press? Our local newspaper often covers things like this.

@worktired I google it every day
It's frustrating to see the other cases come up from the previous years in court round ups but this seems to have stopped in my local area over a year ago as there have been none since

if he pleaded not guilty at the first hearing then there would be a delay before the next one. If he then changed his plea there again there would be another delay for sentencing reports. If you know how to play the system you can string things along for quite a while.

Dunno if someone’s said. Mandatory 3 years if he’s been banned before

This might make sense as someone told me he might get a longer ban if 'he tried to piss the court about'

That’s bollpcks. The longer ban. He’s been banned before, he’s just never told you.

Can you not Google his name and see if anything comes up on local news sites. I’ve done this before and it’s quite informative