What will happen at court

Convicted Driver Insurance

GGG

Well Known Member
Been drinking at home and partner rang telling me she was in bits due to her son acting up, he's 14 and has autism and can be very challenging. I thought I was ok to drive so set off to support her, it 6 miles to her address. 500 yards from her house I have been a collision with vehicle going through a junction, hitting rear offside of his car, damage to my front offside wing. Nobody was hurt in the collision. Police turn up and I failed breathtest. Other driver said I went through a red light, I said he did.

Blew 78 at the station charged with drink driving only, no other charge.

Mitigating factors
Clean licence for 21 years never had a point on it, no previous convictions.
I have character references from my manager at work, I have worked for same company since 1999.
One from my partner mentioning the autism with paperwork from specialists etc confirming her son suffers from autism
One from an elderly gentleman who has severe copd, stating I do all his weekly shopping etc and pick up prescription and care for him through covid.
Pleading guilty at earliest instance.

Aggravating factors
Involved in collision

Could I go to prison?
 
I will give a full reply later today, but to reassure you, an offence with a reading like that will NOT result in prison.
 
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Been drinking at home and partner rang telling me she was in bits due to her son acting up, he's 14 and has autism and can be very challenging. I thought I was ok to drive so set off to support her, it 6 miles to her address. 500 yards from her house I have been a collision with vehicle going through a junction, hitting rear offside of his car, damage to my front offside wing. Nobody was hurt in the collision. Police turn up and I failed breathtest. Other driver said I went through a red light, I said he did.

Blew 78 at the station charged with drink driving only, no other charge.

Mitigating factors
Clean licence for 21 years never had a point on it, no previous convictions.
I have character references from my manager at work, I have worked for same company since 1999.
One from my partner mentioning the autism with paperwork from specialists etc confirming her son suffers from autism
One from an elderly gentleman who has severe copd, stating I do all his weekly shopping etc and pick up prescription and care for him through covid.
Pleading guilty at earliest instance.

Aggravating factors
Involved in collision

Could I go to prison?
Hi Colin

You will not go to prison for this, I can assure you. You will be banned and receive a criminal record though, the penalty calculator says the following;

Details of offence as provided by you:
  • Specimen Type: breath
  • Alcohol Level: between 60 and 89
  • No previous relevant convictions within the proceeding 10 years
  • You have not been disqualified two or more times for 56 days or more within the proceeding 3 years
Based on the information you provided above, upon conviction of driving with excess alcohol, Magistrates' sentencing guidelines suggest:
Having the character reference will possibly help, unfortunately the mentioning of your partner's son having autism will bear no weighting, nor will the fact that you help out the old fella with COPD. Your best bet is to explain how out of character it was, don't try to make any excuses, just apologise and be humble, embarrassed and remorseful. Dress smartly at court, show respect to the magistrates and request the drink drive course which can reduce your ban by up to 25%. If the magistrates believe your remorse your best result will be a ban on the lower end of the scale (as I say reduced if you carry out the course)
 
What bearing will the collision have on the sentencing, I'm at my wits end with worry. Thanks for the reply regarding not getting prison.
 
What bearing will the collision have on the sentencing, I'm at my wits end with worry. Thanks for the reply regarding not getting prison.
It is an aggravating factor, may make the magistrates increase the ban and/or fine. Mitigating with character references and remorse may cancel this out though. Just learn from your mistake and move on, pointless worrying about something you cannot change. Don't let this define you!
 
Big Tom has given you correct advice.
You get 1/3rd off a fine, but not 1/3rd off your ban for a early guilty plea.
The collision, if they feel you were at fault, will make it likely that you will be at the higher end of the 17-22 months guidelines.
 
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Big Tom has given you correct advice.
You get 1/3rd off a fine, but not 1/3rd off your ban for a early guilty plea.
The collision, if they feel you were at fault, will make it likely that you will be at the higher end of the 17-22 months guidelines.
Thanks for reply
 
Hi Colin
The guidelines stated will be where you will be sentenced.
I was in a similar position 12 months ago and had quite a bad collision (head on), luckily no serious injuries, blew 69.
I was sentanced to a 18 month ban, like you i was scared of prison and a solicitor put my mind at ease, representing me for just over £300.

Some great advice and examples on this wonderful forum.
 
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Hi Colin
The guidelines stated will be where you will be sentenced.
I was in a similar position 12 months ago and had quite a bad collision (head on), luckily no serious injuries, blew 69.
I was sentanced to a 18 month ban, like you i was scared of prison and a solicitor put my mind at ease, representing me for just over £300.

Some great advice and examples on this wonderful forum.
Thanks for reply, never been so stressed in my life.
 
Big Tom has given you correct advice.
You get 1/3rd off a fine, but not 1/3rd off your ban for a early guilty plea.
The collision, if they feel you were at fault, will make it likely that you will be at the higher end of the 17-22 months guidelines.
Is it different in Scotland, as I was given a three year ban and £300 fine,reduced to 2 years ban and £200 for early guilty plea...
 
Yes, it is different in Scotland. You get 1/3rd off the ban as well up there!
 
Looking back, I found court the easy part, at the time I didn’t think that, but definitely looking back it was the easiest bit of the whole process.

look remorseful, be remorseful, take the ban/fine etc and learn from it.
 
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Looking back, I found court the easy part, at the time I didn’t think that, but definitely looking back it was the easiest bit of the whole process.

look remorseful, be remorseful, take the ban/fine etc and learn from it.
Thanks, I will definitely be learning from it, it's a mistake that won't be repeated.
 
I found waiting for the court date the hardest part to be honest. My offence was in Feb 2020 and I was due to court at the beginning of April. But due to lockdown was cancelled and a new date set for September 2020. I think the not knowing when I would be going to court was just so stressful. Hopefully this wont happen now. The day before court I was awful and I didnt talk to anyone. Waking up on the morning of the hearing I got some inner strength from somewhere. Think I was just glad it was going to be over. The whole court process on the day was absolutley fine and everyone was very nice.
Good luck!
 
I found waiting for the court date the hardest part to be honest. My offence was in Feb 2020 and I was due to court at the beginning of April. But due to lockdown was cancelled and a new date set for September 2020. I think the not knowing when I would be going to court was just so stressful. Hopefully this wont happen now. The day before court I was awful and I didnt talk to anyone. Waking up on the morning of the hearing I got some inner strength from somewhere. Think I was just glad it was going to be over. The whole court process on the day was absolutley fine and everyone was very nice.
Good luck!
Thanks, it's next Tuesday, trying not to worry but it's not easy. Great for dieting though, I've lost over half a stone in 10 days.
 
Thanks, it's next Tuesday, trying not to worry but it's not easy. Great for dieting though, I've lost over half a stone in 10 days.
It's easy for me to say now but looking back I really needant of worried so much.
Try and take someone with you if possible. I took my daughter but she waited in the corridor as I didnt want her coming in the court room with me.
All the people waiting for their cases looked very respectable. I've heard a lot of people say the opposite to this. I'm not a "stereotypical" type of person but just wanted to give you some perspective.
Be prepared to fill in a financials form and choose your driving awareness course (if applicable). I didn't realise and felt a bit put on the spot.
 
It's easy for me to say now but looking back I really needant of worried so much.
Try and take someone with you if possible. I took my daughter but she waited in the corridor as I didnt want her coming in the court room with me.
All the people waiting for their cases looked very respectable. I've heard a lot of people say the opposite to this. I'm not a "stereotypical" type of person but just wanted to give you some perspective.
Be prepared to fill in a financials form and choose your driving awareness course (if applicable). I didn't realise and felt a bit put on the spot.
Yes my solicitor has gone through things with me regarding court, bit annoyed with myself for not finding this site sooner, I have paid £2400 upfront to them and after reading info on here I've probably wasted most of that but we live and learn.
 
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