The consequences of drink driving are widely understood. Many people have an understanding that it implies a ban upon conviction. For first time offenders it is, actually, a minimal 12 month disqualification increasing to as long as 3 years in more severe cases. Alongside a ban there is an additional part of the penalty that will see you face a penalty or depending upon the seriousness even a community order or prison sentence.
Many individuals who are caught driving over the limit are regular people who have made an error of judgement. Most do not require a criminal conviction against their name or a restrictive sentence to pick up from their mistake. A criminal conviction for drink driving can have very real consequences beyond the immediate sentence and disqualification, such as issues with work, traveling, memberships, licensing, insurance and family members.
There are many ways to defend drink driving charges. Do not allow any person tell you there are no or limited defences to drink driving charges. That is just wrong. The Supreme Court has stated that police will only be given “limited dispensation from the very certain requirements” imposed on them when testing a motorist. Many thousands of drink driving cases have been successfully defended.
Legal advice from an expert drink drive lawyer can make all the difference. Drink driving is Visit Website and specialised area of law. Few lawyers have a real grasp on drink driving defences and ways to avoid conviction and disqualification. Other drink drive lawyers give Alistair hard cases for a reason.
Drink driving offences are treated seriously by the courts. Many unrepresented defendants get a shock when entering a straight guilty plea. While you may feel in the wrong morally, there is a significant difference between that and being discovered legitimately wrong. A criminal conviction for drink driving is forever. Sentences can include imprisonment or other restrictive sentences, as well as permanent confiscation of cars and lengthy disqualifications.
Drink driving procedure is incredibly technical and complex, this can often lead to errors being made. Drink driving is just one of the few where you as the accused, by being asked to give a specimen of blood, are being required to join and consent to provide evidence that can result in you being prosecuted. That evidence needs to be obtained using the correct procedures. Errors can and do happen. We have the specialist knowledge required to dissect a case and find any type of such errors. A number of procedural errors are so significant that they can result in cases either leading to an innocent verdict at court or the case being dropped.
Expert legal advice can help avoid conviction by highlighting many procedural, fairness and rights-based defences, even if you mored than the limit. An expert drink drive lawyer can also assist on the benefits of seeking a discharge without conviction. Specialist legal advice can also make a significant difference in reducing risks, such as imprisonment, other restrictive sentences, car confiscation and disqualification.
Often, where the procedure can appear to be followed on the face of the facts of the case; it is necessary to put all of those facts right into context. For example, after a road traffic accident where someone suffers an injury that leaves them dazed and confused, it may be that they do not have the relevant capacity needed to understand what is happening. In such a case it can be argued that the procedure, although presumably has been dealt with, has not been fully comprehended and is consequently invalid. It is an area of law that requires a comprehensive technical knowledge that our specialist lawyers at Stephensons have in wealth.
Not all drink driving offences involve a breathalyser at the police station. Many involve a specimen of blood or urine being taken by a police doctor or nurse and sometimes not even at a police headquarters. When cases move away from the more common process of providing a specimen of breath on a police station breathalyser then procedures automatically end up being more complex with additional stages needing to be taken care of, often by a variety of different people. Whilst protecting drink driving charges is complex and complicated, the police process of collecting the evidence in the correct way can often be just as complicated and entailed for a variety of reasons. We can vigorously scrutinise this process.