Faults in medical rushed report. My lawyers are ignoring the unfavourable report made on wrong indications

Convicted Driver Insurance

Chelimo

Member
Hi

I have so many issues. My hearing is next week Thursday and I've been advised to plead guilty. I was in a awful state, and the system failed me. Anyways, after the dui incident I was on sick leave and diagnosed with ptsd.
At the time of the DUI, months of suicide and symptoms of ptsd ( didn't know what it was at the time) was unmanageable. Months before, i had been sectioned for suicidal thoughts.
I have done a medical report but the psychotherapist has mentioned that I was diagnosed BEFORE THE INCIDENT. This is wrong as it was AFTER THE INCIDENT. I HAVE INDICATED REPORTS FOR PROOF. No one seems to bother with correction only for payment and NO CONSIDERATION ON RESPONDING BACK.

Loosing my licence would definitely trigger my symptoms again...

Can anyone assist please?
 
The only advice I can offer is that your aim to avoid being disqualified is doomed to failure. Unless you are charged with being in charge of the vehicle rather than actually driving it, the court have NO discretion in the matter.
If you are convicted of drink driving, no matter how much you need your licence, the court have No discretion in the matter, they have to disqualify you.
You cannot plead exceptional circumstances to not lose your licence for medical reasons, the law does not allow it to be done.
You have the added problem that if you have been sectioned due to suicidal thoughts, you may well find that DVLA will revoke your licence and you will have to satisfy them, after your ban is up, that you are fit to get your licence back.
 
So what about the errors made on the medical report? I've read charges being dismissed through expert reports?
 
You say you are going to plead guilty, and by way of explanation your solicitor will explain your background to the court which with will take in to account when considering the length of the ban, but only in a minor way. The main circumstances that they will take in to account will be your reading in breath and what you’d driving was like at the time.

There is no way that they will dismiss a drink driving charge that you admit... because your medical report is claimed to be inaccurate!

what was your reading in breath?
 
price1367 said:
You say you are going to plead guilty, and by way of explanation your solicitor will explain your background to the court which with will take in to account when considering the length of the ban, but only in a minor way. The main circumstances that they will take in to account will be your reading in breath and what you’d driving was like at the time.

There is no way that they will dismiss a drink driving charge that you admit... because your medical report is claimed to be inaccurate!

what was your reading in breath?
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It was high I am embarrassed. If I plead not guilty? How can I get my charges dropped? Any advise?
 
The charges will not be dropped. If your solicitors have advised you to plead guilty they can see you have no reasonable defence.
If you plead not guilty the prosecution costs claimed from you (if convicted) rise from £85 to £620.
On what basis would you plead not guilty? If you were driving the car, and were over the limit then you have to show serious faults in the police procedure. (your solicitors would have found this)
If you plead guilty the only way to avoid a ban you have to show you drove a minimal distance with no risk to other road users (like 50 yards or so) or be escaping immediate violence and there was no other way of escaping.
Other than that, a disqualification is inevitable. It is not a question of a lack of sympathy from the magistrates, they have no discretion in the matter as the law is clear.
If your reading was between 60-89 the guidelines are a 17-22 month ban. If your reading was 90-119 then it is 23-28 months. Above that it is 29-36 months. Also if your reading was over 87 you will face a medical before you can get your licence back.
 
Chelimo said:
It was high I am embarrassed. If I plead not guilty? How can I get my charges dropped? Any advise?
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If you were caught behind the wheel of a car with a high reading you can't get your charges dropped. Many on this forum have also been ripped off by so called "expert" solicitors. The fact they've advised you to plead guilty is an indication that they can't get your charges dropped, they have not been able to find a reasonable defence.

Your personal circumstances can be used as mitigation, but you will be banned for a minimum of 12 months on a sliding scale up to 36 months depending on how high your reading was. I also suffer from mental health problems pertaining to trauama and was suffering at the time I was caught, this made no difference to my sentence as mental health is not a get out of jail free card. I was still bound by the sentencing guidelines of the court like everyone else. Price is spot on, you'll be paying an extra £600 for a not guilty plea which will be for nothing.
 
grice96 said:
If you were caught behind the wheel of a car with a high reading you can't get your charges dropped. Many on this forum have also been ripped off by so called "expert" solicitors. The fact they've advised you to plead guilty is an indication that they can't get your charges dropped, they have not been able to find a reasonable defence.

Your personal circumstances can be used as mitigation, but you will be banned for a minimum of 12 months on a sliding scale up to 36 months depending on how high your reading was. I also suffer from mental health problems pertaining to trauama and was suffering at the time I was caught, this made no difference to my sentence as mental health is not a get out of jail free card. I was still bound by the sentencing guidelines of the court like everyone else. Price is spot on, you'll be paying an extra £600 for a not guilty plea which will be for nothing.
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I've just read about temporary insanity where charges have been dropped. I was sectioned months before, never got help there after till dui. I was driving to pick my daughter up as I was afraid ( triggers) of her getting sexually abused. My brain was off:( i can't imagine how stupid that sounds but at the time I thought I was going insane
 
Chelimo said:
I've just read about temporary insanity where charges have been dropped. I was sectioned months before, never got help there after till dui. I was driving to pick my daughter up as I was afraid ( triggers) of her getting sexually abused. My brain was off:( i can't imagine how stupid that sounds but at the time I thought I was going insane
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It doesn't sound stupid, the brain being controlled by trauma is an irrational thing. However, it is nowhere even close to enough to launch a M'naghten defence as it is known in the UK. PTSD alone is not enough for this plea, you would have needed to have been experiencing psychosis and been sectioned under the mental health act by the arresting officers for a plea like this to be even be on the cards let alone relied upon.

Knowledge that the act is illegal also discounts you from the M'naghten defence. Under DPP Vs Harper in 1997 it was deemed that the M'naghten defence could not be used to defend offences of strict liability. Drink driving is a strict liability offence in the UK. This defence is usually only used for murder and is so difficult to mount that it is used in less than 1% of cases with a success rate of less than 0.2% of that 1%, that's abysmally low. I'm sorry these aren't the answers you were looking for but the reality of your situation is that whilst over the limit you drove your car to pick up your daughter, the law is black and white and does not allow for any wiggle room for personal circumstances.

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Chelimo,
You have obviously looked at that ‘defence’ with your solicitors and they have advised a guilty plea.

You were driving a car, going to collect your daughter who who are (presumably) capable of looking after you. The prosecution will simply say that your poor judgement in driving was due to he amount of alcohol you had consumed.
even if you were to succeed, you would no doubt face years of your licence being revoked because of mental health issues which would be far worse than a specific length disqualification for drink driving.
Whilst the issues you have suffered are tragic, the more that is disclosed to the court, the more DVLA will be reluctant to restore your licence after the ban. By all means explain PTSD, but any more than that will simply store up problems for you at the end of the ban.
Solicitors will waffle on to the court about all your circumstances to look good and appear to be earning their fee, but they will have no thought to the future impact on you.
Also remember that the more ‘interesting’ the case is to the press, the more they are likely to report it and spread your past events for all to read.......
 
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Chelimo,
I have just read your posts again. You say you were on your way to collect your daughter. If the court are told this it is likely to increase your ban as it shows irresponsibility. You really must talk to your solicitor and agree with them what they should disclose about your circumstances and what you were doing. It will NOT stop you being banned and the more they say, whilst seeming good to you, will only cause you more grief than it is worth.
 
People on here are not unsympathetic to you, but we give honest answers about likely outcomes.
Good luck for Thursday. Let us know how you get on.
 
I did plead guilty with mitigation and the probation officer wants to make a full report. Am back June for sentencing. How are reporters in Courts? Can I dismiss them? Omg...this is not nice:(
 
Chelimo said:
I did plead guilty with mitigation and the probation officer wants to make a full report. Am back June for sentencing. How are reporters in Courts? Can I dismiss them? Omg...this is not nice:(
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Reporters are in courts to report on crimes of public interest. You can not dismiss them as it is freedom of the press to report on such crimes.

If it’s a slow news day you may end up on the courts page as many on this forum have, but there are an equal number who do not end up in the paper.
 
grice96 said:
Reporters are in courts to report on crimes of public interest. You can not dismiss them as it is freedom of the press to report on such crimes.

If it’s a slow news day you may end up on the courts page as many on this forum have, but there are an equal number who do not end up in the paper.
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Also if its just a sentencing?
 
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