please help

Convicted Driver Insurance
You've been busted, bottom line is that you did it. You did it before too. And surely after the first time you knew what you were putting on the line. Maybe not we all make mistakes. But again? With a baby? This surely won't help it will look worse. And I'm afraid I don't believe you. I strongly doubt you'd have been this drunk with previous and thought all was well. Nor do I believe you rarely drink. You have in my opinion a problem with alcohol. You'll have to face your punishment like everyone else and maybe get yourself sorted. I may be wrong but even of so you need to deal with it and part of that is accepting you made a mistake and will have to live with the consequences. It is your fault nobody else's. Even blaming the sun?? If you accept the mistake you will move on and I also think a lot of people on this forum will help you. Trust me you move on. I was so low I attempted suicide. But I accepted it. Unless you do I can't see why anyone would reply to you. You didn't learn the first time, ignored your baby's needs and thinks it's everyone else's fault.
 
To add to that. In one post you say you have a baby of a few weeks. That is why you haven't been drinking for years. This is rubbish. The baby is a few weeks old and took 9 months to grow. How is this years? Stop making excuses as fibbing won't help. You're lucky to have kids and and family. You thought you'd be ok and you weren't.
 
if u read my posts properly u will see that i said ive been doing controlled drinking with my hubby since my 3 year old was born...before that i was in AA for five years i was so mortified about my 2009 ban i realised i had an alchol problem..but the disease is cunning and baffling and i thought i was cured...so stupidly thought id be ok.. i realise now that i am an alcholic and prob the only thing that stopped me from drinking too much was my kids. which i know im lucky to have! ive already gone back to AA. ive rung my doctor and hv who see me regularly and know i dont drink the doc even said he can provide my blood tests over the years to prove it
 
i wanted to b normal and b able to drink controlled with hubby and altho ive been doing ok obviously saturday was far from normal and i guess im making excuses coz i still cant believe how drunk i was so quick......obviously facts r its completly my fault and im lucky noone was hurt and i must believe in and sort out my alcohol problem...but with my little children i am worried sick and posted on here for help now u have worried me millie coz if u dont believe me why would the judge...im so scared
 
You are going to be fine ok, whatever happens.

You made a mistake, a bad decision and you made it at a really bad time. BUT no one was hurt, you were stopped in time, you know it was your fault and you have a beautiful child so all is good . We have all been there ok so now learn to forgive yourself and improve yourself.

Go to court, if you indicate to the cps via your solicitor that you intend to plead guilty the cps prepare a quick statement of fact so the bench won't get all the gory detail, just an overview along the lines of "police were called to the scene of a minor single vehicle collision on xx road at xxpm on the xxth of june. The defendent was at the scene and confirmed she was the driver of the vehicle. She failed the roadside breath test and was therefore arrested on suspicion of driving above the prescribed limit for alcohol. She was taken to xx police station where she was placed on the evidential intoxilizer where she provided a sample which confirmed she had 109mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, the legal limit being 35. In terms of anticedants this defendant has a conviction for a similar offence in 2009 and therefore falls within the timescales of a second disqualification in a ten year period."

If you go no guilty they will have a trial, all the detail comes out, they can get cctv of the intoxilizer and staff from the restaurant etc and they will know everything.

You are in line for a community penelty which is usually unpaid work. Ask for a presentence report and make the case there that you are unsuitable as you have a newborn and they will look at a short period under curfew/tag and maybe a community requirement (alcohol treatment depending in your area). In the interview with probation for that report show genuine remorse and have lots of good things to say about how you are tackling your alcohol use. This won't reduce your ban to less than 36 months but could reduce the community side.

Then, buy a buspass and position yourself so that in 3 years time when the dvla write to your gp they will say no evidence of alcohol misuse or dependance in the past 12 months and pass their bloodtest and you are back on the toad if you can afford the insurance
 
sambickerdyke said:
You are going to be fine ok, whatever happens.

You made a mistake, a bad decision and you made it at a really bad time. BUT no one was hurt, you were stopped in time, you know it was your fault and you have a beautiful child so all is good . We have all been there ok so now learn to forgive yourself and improve yourself.

Go to court, if you indicate to the cps via your solicitor that you intend to plead guilty the cps prepare a quick statement of fact so the bench won't get all the gory detail, just an overview along the lines of "police were called to the scene of a minor single vehicle collision on xx road at xxpm on the xxth of june. The defendent was at the scene and confirmed she was the driver of the vehicle. She failed the roadside breath test and was therefore arrested on suspicion of driving above the prescribed limit for alcohol. She was taken to xx police station where she was placed on the evidential intoxilizer where she provided a sample which confirmed she had 109mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, the legal limit being 35. In terms of anticedants this defendant has a conviction for a similar offence in 2009 and therefore falls within the timescales of a second disqualification in a ten year period."

If you go no guilty they will have a trial, all the detail comes out, they can get cctv of the intoxilizer and staff from the restaurant etc and they will know everything.

You are in line for a community penelty which is usually unpaid work. Ask for a presentence report and make the case there that you are unsuitable as you have a newborn and they will look at a short period under curfew/tag and maybe a community requirement (alcohol treatment depending in your area). In the interview with probation for that report show genuine remorse and have lots of good things to say about how you are tackling your alcohol use. This won't reduce your ban to less than 36 months but could reduce the community side.

Then, buy a buspass and position yourself so that in 3 years time when the dvla write to your gp they will say no evidence of alcohol misuse or dependance in the past 12 months and pass their bloodtest and you are back on the toad if you can afford the insurance
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thank u sambikerdyke...im going to another AA meeting tonight i have to make sure this never happens again....

i will be scared till court date people keep telling me it will depend on the judge and some want to lock drink drivers away....i dont know why people seem to like to worry others more

i have a solicitor and ive emailed him all the details but not heard back from him..do they prefer to just sort things on the day. .

will i definately get a pre sentence report or should i ask for one if not....r they a good thing?
 
As your pleading guilty it's pretty much cut and dry, the court as its set guidelines for sentencing and the solicitors job is to get the lightest possible out of them. All the solicitor can do is produce facts on your behalf on how remorseful you are, how your sorting your life out, what lead to the conviction and how such sentencing would affect your family. Your income might show you can pay a heavier fine and that may reduce your community sentence leaving less impact on your children. Remember there is very little that can mitigate your crime and in your case possibly none and that's how the court see's it. The solicitors hands are tied so don't expect any miracles.
 
Jessica I promise I wasn't having a dig or trying to scare you. And I know why you'd have wanted to do controlled drinking. My heart goes out to you and I certainly am in no place to judge. I know the court will be fair. You will get as others have said the ban set out in the guidelines. And you will live with it and adjust. I know this seems hard to contemplate as you are so frightened, but this could make you. Start again. You cocked up. I did too. I was on a path to total ruin. I lost a lot through my ban but my god I could have lost a lot more. You still have the important things. Nobody died. And you will stop this evil alcohol in its tracks now, I have faith you will. Go to court and be honest and remorseful. Which you are. You are human and move on with your head held high. You know what people can be so awful every day and things they do aren't criminal but should be. I also know this time will be awkward but it will fly. Your hands are full so spend this time focusing on you and your kids and making their young lives special. With a lovely mum which you clearly are. And a wiser one now x
 
thanks everyone i feel a bit stronger after AA last night...i need to get some character references and write a letter to the judge.....should i explain how it happened to the judge so he doesnt think ive been drinking all these years...or is that the solicitors job and i should write a short remorseful letter?
 
Letters need to be short, a dj is unlkely to read them but mags probably will.

Prison is highly unlikely, you meed to be 4 times the limit or have significant aggravating factors. I dont think you are there. Plus a breastfeeding mother makes it harder to impose custody. If they were minded for custody they would suspend it but if they think you are an alcoholic they will be concerned they are setting you up to fail and later have to activate it and you have a child. They will throw the book at you but not as far as custody.

You will almost certainly get a community sentence as well as the ban. They will be concerned about your newborn so i think they will ask for a presentence report and if they dont ask your solicitor to ask for one. They can be written or verbal, verbal is done that day so you want that, it will help them decide what community penalty ok so its a good thing, a tag is easier than unpaid work and always MUCH shorter, not like your going out much with a newborn, they might think thats too easy, maybe they can offer alcohol treatment programmes...
 
thanks i hope u are right im dying to get next week out of the way...i will ask my solicitor about a pre sentence report... he seems to be leaving alot of it till the day..is this normal? does the judge only look at cases on the day..i have emailed him my letter and some character references but im wondering whether to print them off and take them with me too?
 
Like splodge said drink driving is extremely common and really very simple for a solicitor. Its just in the mitigation. Even if you were pleading not guilty they wouldn't do much work until after the first case management hearing. A guilty plea like yours will be sent to a fast moving court based around guilty pleas, in and out in 5 mins.

Your solicitor will likely meet you there in the day advise you on what to plead and likely sentence and chat about you mitigation, there is no prep needed for them.

Judge or mags wont know about the case until 30 secinds before you go in and will decide sentence based on their guidelines which is 3ry ban and medium community. Just go in, confirm your name and address, CPS will provide a summary, you will be asked to plea then you solicitor will give your mitigation and you'll get to sentencing. A dj wont allow a report i expect but you never know.

Print your letters and take them with you and speak to your solicitor about avoiding unpaid work due to a newborn.

You'll be fine, its really nit that scary amd i assure you they will not judge you or look down on you, this is super common, it will just be boring to them
 
thanks so much....it is today! im sick with nerves do u think i should speak up for myself or leave it to my solicitor....who i still havent met!
 
thanks Splodger.....it was horrible i was there 6 hours the solicitor talked about cusody but he would try for suspended and noone knew the judge coz i had a part time judge not a magistrate which he said was more serious...they adjorned it for a pre sentance report x
 
but in the end i got 3 years which can reduce to 27 months with the driving ban and a rar where i have to see probation and attend some alcohol course thing plus i said id stay at aa...i just got two lots of £85 costs too no fine!
 
Well I think you have to look at in a way that you got off likely, time to get your priorities right for the next couple of years so your in the right frame of mind to apply for your licence back.

The solicitor would have been over egging the severity of punishment so as to look like they did a good job when the sentence was passed....so you can say they did they're job.

Basically you have two years to prove to your GP you no longer drink, visit them regularly and tell them how well you are doing, believe me time will fly by and when it comes to re-applying your GP's evidence will ensure you get your licence back with no hassle or delays.

And remember many people who loose there licence and have a drink problem hit the bottle harder at some point(I was)...don't be one of them!

all the best.
 
yes i was one of those people last time...it took me years to stop drinking properly...i wont do that again this time i need to keep in aa n get my acceptance clear that i can never have the first drink...which is hard when ive been ok controlling it for three years....but i need to remember all this and accept i am an alcholic .....when is the best time to look at doing that course? i realise i am lucky to have been offered that too.....should i just randomly keep going to the doctor n asking for blood tests or just see him normally?
 
Well I would get the course done as soon as you can as like most things it will go up in price and you will find the course will spur you on to stay sensible. Your GP I would visit every 6 months, you can use what ever reason you like but make sure you let them know your not drinking and that it goes on your notes for future reference.

onwards and upwards hey!
 
So well done jessica!

You survived!

Splodgers advice is spot on. Sort out your alcohol issues, you have a good amount of time to do that. When it comes to applying for your licence again its all going down to what your gp has written down on your file as regards alcohol as to whether or not the dvla will give you your licence back.

Good luck
 
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