Drink Driving - instant ban?

[Snorbs]

My ex has managed to get herself kept in the cells overnight after being stopped for drink driving. The court case is scheduled to be in a couple of weeks.

She is claiming that she is still allowed to drive up until the court takes her license away - can anyone confirm if that's true? I'd heard that you got a pretty much instant ban from the time you were found to be over the limit.

Also, is it still the case that the length of the ban is dependent on how much over the limit she was? She says she's been advised that she'll likely get an 18-24mo ban. There's no chance that she'll get sent to prison, is there?

Thanks!

This happened to someone I know. I can't remember whether they were still allowed to drive - to be honest they were so shocked they didn't even consider it.

I think it all depends on how over the limit she was, whether it was a first offence and how she reacted at the time (was she aggressive etc). The person I knew lost their licence for 18 months but that was reduced to a year because they went on the alcohol awareness course. I seem to remember that the court solicitor said a custodial sentence was unlikely for a first offence

She's right on both accounts, Snorbs. Only the Court can take away her license, and only on a guilty plea to the charge or if she is convicted after trial. So she can drive until then, but she would be ill advised to drive to court on the day of the hearing.

And yes the length of ban does depend on the the height of the reading. The court can consider prison but only if the reading is super super high, ie 140 in breath.

She can get the Duty Solicitor to deal with her on the day for free as long as she doesn't instruct one beforehand. I'm a Duty Solicitor and often deal with offences like this only seeing the defendants for the first time on the day of the hearing itself.HTH.

Thanks for the confirmation!

I'm actually quite glad she's been caught as she's an alcoholic and habitual drink-driver so it's lucky she was stopped before someone got hurt. It will make it harder to organise contact between her and the DCs but that's the way it goes.

The strangest thing about all this is that from what you say, she actually told me the truth for once. I'm rather unnerved by that

Sorry, one final thought - what happens if the case is adjourned for some reason, like the police officer is busy or she doesn't turn up?

If she doesn't turn up, without good reason and without letting the Court know, they will issue a warrant for her arrest. The police aren't expected at the first hearing. Its only if she pleaded not guilty, went for a trial and the police officer was required to give evidence that his/her attendance would be needed.

Ah, I see. That makes sense - there's no need for police evidence etc if she's pleaded guilty.

Thanks ever so much for the advice!

yes, she keeps her licence up until the court take it away..

Expect 18-3 year ban, she will need to come up with some serious reasons whay she is desperate for the car so the ban is not too lengthy...

expect a heavy fine as well, and remember dont drive to the court, my brother who got caught speeding doing 85 in a 30, drove to court, they banned him and the silly sod went to drive home, and the police were sitting right there! Now that was funny

Why 18 to 3?

If it is a first offence and she did not try to run then around 12 months is the norm 18 if the reading was high

Your advised to take a lawyer

You can usually get time off the ban if you complete a course on the evils of drink driving.

Length of ban depends on the reading - anything 85 plus you are looking at 18 months minimum.

Re driving - if she has previous, or the offence is particularly serious, she may have been given bail with a condition not to drive. Breaking the terms of her bail is not a criminal offence, but can lead to her being arrested and not being granted bail in the future.

Just to update: according to the magistrates court she pleaded guilty and received a 2-year driving ban, a fine plus a 6-month community order where she has to attend some form of alcohol abuse treatment every week.

I'm guessing she must've been quite a long way over the limit. It's good that she's off the road before something dreadful happened.

Thanks for all the help!

Good news that she got the community order too. Her attendance will be compulsory and hopefully it might help her begin to address her alcohol problems.

I'll be honest. I've got no expectations whatsoever that the community order will make any noticeable difference to her drinking habits. This isn't the first time she's had counselling, treatment and/or rehab, and neither is it the first time that she's faced bad consequences for her boozing.

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