How much will a defence cost?

[Stirling]

My wife was arrested at out home on Thursday night and taken to the local police station. Apparently a neighbour had called the police - I was away on business. She was breathalised at the station and blew 119mg breath. That is the amount she is charged with.

Irrelevant to this, but a part of the problem is, there has been an ongoing alcohol problem. However, after spending the night in the cells this has finally got the message home. She has now been to to two AA meetings and really sees the error of her ways.

Now clearly with 119mg she is at the upper end of an 22-28 month ban, up to £5000 fine. We need some advice, and I need to know how much a defence will cost and what mitigating circumstances can be pleaded, especially to lower the ban. I travel extensively, we have 2 boys 13 and 15 and they are effectively going to be grounded. Also as my wife only works P/T on minimum wage, will my income be taken into account with regards to the fine and any offer to pay?

I would appreciate any help/advice that can be given.

 

[SeanJoyceStephensons]

The exact cost of representation varies from case to case, my department gives a fixed fee for dealing with these cases based upon how much work we expect to be involved. There is a significant difference between raising a defence and entering a plea of mitigation. If you were to raise a defence to the allegation and instruct ourselves to deal with the case the total cost would be somewhere in the region of £2500 + VAT as the case would run for a couple of months and there would need to be detailed preparation of the defence. A plea of mitigation at Court will cost somewhere in the region of £750 + VAT. This involves taking a statement from your wife regarding the circumstances of the offence and the impact of any sentence, as well as providing guidance on preparing character references. We would also instruct a barrister to represent her at the hearing and guide her through the Court process.

The full range of mitigation would be put forward if your wife was looking to plead guilty and enter mitigation, all of the information is set out in detail in her statement and a copy is sent through to her to review and confirm that she is happy with it's contents. If you would like a definitive quote then you are welcome to call my department on 0333 999 7158.