Extremely High Blood Reading - Am I Going to Prison?

Convicted Driver Insurance

hebealexandra

New Member
I have court on the 15th January.

I had a blood reading of 316mg/100ml blood and hit a parked van (causing no damage to the van). My car was totalled (as it was a tiny cheap car). This happened on November 4th.

This is my first offence of any kind, and I have been sober ever since. In January I am moving into a Recovery House to work on my alcohol addiction and they have said they will provide me with a reference stating that I have been attending meetings.

I have held a clean driving licence for 10 years.

The alcohol content is so high though that I am terrified I will be sent to jail.

Any advice or similar experiences would be hugely appreciated.
 
I have court on the 15th January.

I had a blood reading of 316mg/100ml blood and hit a parked van (causing no damage to the van). My car was totalled (as it was a tiny cheap car). This happened on November 4th.

This is my first offence of any kind, and I have been sober ever since. In January I am moving into a Recovery House to work on my alcohol addiction and they have said they will provide me with a reference stating that I have been attending meetings.

I have held a clean driving licence for 10 years.

The alcohol content is so high though that I am terrified I will be sent to jail.

Any advice or similar experiences would be hugely appreciated.

hebealexandra

Welcome to the forum.

I take it you were very very drunk?

I believe the limit for bloods is 80mg, so 316mg puts you just short of four times the legal limit. I was over three times the limit when I got convicted in February 2019 and I recieved a 28 month driving ban with 100 hours community service.

The Magistrates use a sentencing guideline matrix which determines what your punishment would be. You will fall into the highest category of sentencing which starts at a 29 month driving ban for a first drink driving offence.

I see you have already spoken to the online Solicitor which is good so I won't say anything to contradict him or cloud the advice he's given as he is a professional in his field.

What I will say is that prison is very unlikely. I was given community service for my drink driving ban which was my first only brush with the law, and I too wasn't far off your own reading.

The Magistrates usually clamp down more severely on repeat offenders. There was another lady doing community service at the same time as me who was on her second ban in ten years. It is fair to say she was a chronic alcoholic and crashed her car while five times over the limit and she didn't get prison! She did get a suspended prison sentence but no actual imprisonment. As I say this was her second drink driving offence and she was banned for four years (a second conviction in ten years has a minimum ban of 36 months).

I would suggest getting a couple of character references from professional people so you can hand these to the Court Clerk on the date of your court appearance and also do a letter of apology to the Magistrates which will be favoured upon.

What I will say in the current climate of this ongoing Covid19 epidemic - Magistrates are reluctant to send people to prison because of the impact this regid virus is having in prisons. Therefore, I would hazard a guess the Magistrates will look at alternative punishment such as community service, maybe a home curfew or a mandatory alcohol treatment programme.

I actually thought the worst when I was awaiting my court appearance (yes I thought about prison too!) and once it was done it was a massive relief to know I could move forward.

Finally, although you were in a collision, no harm or inconvenience was caused to other people which is the most important aspect to remember.

Good luck.

CJ
 
I have court on the 15th January.

I had a blood reading of 316mg/100ml blood and hit a parked van (causing no damage to the van). My car was totalled (as it was a tiny cheap car). This happened on November 4th.

This is my first offence of any kind, and I have been sober ever since. In January I am moving into a Recovery House to work on my alcohol addiction and they have said they will provide me with a reference stating that I have been attending meetings.

I have held a clean driving licence for 10 years.

The alcohol content is so high though that I am terrified I will be sent to jail.

Any advice or similar experiences would be hugely appreciated.
Hiya

Im in a similar situation to yours,
Can I ask what your out come was at court?
 
Hi! I got a £613 fine and a three year driving ban. I did also put a lot of work into my sobriety and had evidence for this in court. What happened to you?
 
I haven’t been to court yet
Bloods were twice over limit, went though bushes in to a field no one was involved
Its my first offence 🤞🏼
 
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