Drink Driving Lawyers Avoid Prison For Second Time Offender

Billy came to us as a desperate man in need of the best drink driving lawyers.

He had been charged with Drink Driving, and what made things worse was it was his second offence within 10 years so the court would be taking this very seriously.

Billy’s reading was 147 in breath.  High.  Very high.

It was one of the highest readings our drink driving lawyers had seen at Forrest Williams.

Billy was very realistically facing an immediate custodial sentence.

We worked with Billy from day one to try and avoid this.

We spoke with Billy about the possibility of him having an alcohol misuse issue.

Billy was not the typical alcoholic, the popularly imagined character who replaced the water in his water bottle with vodka and sipped that at work.

Billy’s story was completely different.

Billy had recently separated from his long term partner and so was currently readjusting to life on his own. Shortly before Billy and his partner separated, they were beginning to go through the adoption process.

On the night before he was arrested for drink driving, his now ex-partner sent him a photo of him, his new partner and the two children that they had successfully adopted.

Understandably Billy was distraught by this news, and like many others, he took comfort in alcohol to make the pain go away.

The next morning, Billy went to the shops when he was stopped by the police and found to be over the limit.  He was arrested by the police for Drink Driving.

Billy was fully compliant with the police.

When we spoke to Billy about this charge, we reached the decision together that whilst Billy is not by any means dependant on Alcohol, he does drink too much and this does need addressing.

Billy attended a couple of support sessions before the court hearing and obtained evidence that he had already taken action to address this issue.

We prepared Billy’s mitigation focusing on avoiding an immediate custodial sentence, and gathered supporting documents that strengthened his case.  

We then appointed one of our senior barristers who specialises in Drink Driving to represent Billy at the court hearing.

Billy attended, fully expecting to either be sent to prison that day, or for the matter to be adjourned so that he could meet with probation services before being sentenced to prison.

We managed to go one better.

We knew how much this meant to Billy, so we arranged for the probation services to meet with Billy that day so the case would be dealt with within one court hearing.

The sentence was in…

Billy was given a 6 week custodial sentence suspended for 9 months. He was ordered to complete a 10 day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement, and was disqualified for 36 months (the minimum for his case as it was his second offence within 10 years).

Billy was absolutely overjoyed by the outcome.  It was more than he had allowed himself to dream of.

Billy commented after the court hearing:

I honestly cannot thank your company enough.

When it’s as important as keeping your freedom, then you need to have the best on your side.  Call our expert team of drink driving lawyers on 01623 397200.

20 Month Drink Driving Ban For Reading of 94

Following a hearing at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court this week, Donna Leighton told our Senior Solicitor, Steve Williams, that she was relieved about the outcome, after receiving a 20 month drink driving ban for reading of 94.

Donna was made aware when she instructed us that with her breath reading of 94, and no previous offences, the sentencing guidelines indicated her penalties would most probably be a community order (instead of a fine) and a disqualification within the range 23-28 months.

For Donna, a disqualification of around 2 years meant immediate dismissal from her job working at management level within the security industry, as travelling across the whole of the UK is a requirement of this role.

However, the seriousness of Donna’s third category offence was mitigated by Steve Williams’ explanation to the court of what had happened prior to Donna deciding to drive on the date in question. This backstory, in Donna’s case, was crucial in understanding why she had been summoned to appear in court for a drink driving offence – especially as she had been out drinking with friends that evening and travelled home by taxi afterwards. Donna truly had no intention to drive.

Steve explained to the court that Donna, a single parent with two young children, had been – for many years – a victim of domestic violence. Her abuser was also the father of her children, so avoiding ongoing contact was not practical. The violence against her had been so great that her ex-partner had been imprisoned for assault. An injunction had also been taken out against him in the recent past.

On the date in question, Donna had arrived home alone by taxi, gone into her house and immediately taken a telephone call. It was her violent ex-partner, telling her he knew where she had been, and with whom, and that he was on his way to her house.

Under the influence of alcohol, and frightened by the threat, Donna grabbed her car keys and left the house. She was stopped by police midway between her house and that of her friend, who she was going to for help.

Although Donna could have called the police, she told her case worker that she had been reluctant to do this as they had already been called to her property many times, and knew her situation and her ex-partner very well. She told us she felt ashamed of having to keep calling the police out, and that she wanted to just escape from the situation.

Unfortunately, the manner of her driving brought her to the attention of the police and she was pulled over, breathalysed and subsequently charged with the drink driving offence.

The fact that her situation was not technically an emergency meant that a ‘special reasons’ argument would be difficult, and was a fight that Donna did not have the strength for.  She wanted to plead guilty and attempt to do some damage limitation, to come away with a ban under two years. 

Donna pleaded guilty, with mitigation. She was disqualified for a period of 20 months and offered a place on the drink drive rehabilitation course, which will reduce her disqualification period by 25% on completion. She was also fined, so a community order was avoided. The court clearly took account of the mitigating factors in her case and sentenced her accordingly.

Donna thanked Steve Williams, and her case worker, for all their help in achieving the best possible outcome for her. We hope she can now start to move forward with her life and wish her – and her children – all the best for the future.

Jess Sadler, paralegal at Forrest Williams solicitors

Case Study: Drink Driving Lawyers Secure Minimum Ban

Rebecca came to Forrest Williams, specialist drink driving lawyers, just days after she had been involved in a car accident.

It was Rebecca’s first time in this sort of situation so she was understandably very upset, and really needed somebody just to listen to her and guide her through the whole process.

Rebecca had been out for the evening with her husband and some friends. Rebecca’s husband, Matt, does not drink due to an ongoing medical condition, so Rebecca had drank 2 glasses of wine, and Matt was intending to drive them both back home.

However, halfway through the night, Matt suddenly became very ill, and so Rebecca proceeded to drive Matt home so she could look after him in a safe environment.

Rebecca did not think about the fact that she was over the limit. She just wanted to get Matt home. The journey home was only ten minutes, so it seemed like a risk worth taking.

On the journey home Rebecca slowed down to around 25mph because she knew she was due to go around a sharp bend soon.

When she was halfway round this corner, she realised that there was a lorry coming from the opposite direction and the lorry had actually crossed over onto her side of the road.

Again Rebecca acted as anyone else would have, and swerved to avoid the lorry. However there was a car parked on double yellow lines on Rebecca’s side of the road, and Rebecca collided straight on with this car.

Rebecca could not remember much about the accident but there were several independent witnesses who had seen the accident who all said that it was the parked car that caused the major problem in the collision and that without it, Rebecca’s manoeuvre would have safely allowed her to avoid the lorry.

Rebecca sustained minor injuries from this accident. However this was not the thing on her mind.

Through police investigations it had been uncovered that the car was not insured, nor did it have a valid MOT.

Rebecca was charged with Drink Driving, Driving without Insurance, and Driving without valid MOT, as well as Driving without Due Care and Attention.

With these charges in mind, Rebecca was facing a 16 month disqualification, 9 penalty points and a fine.

Rebecca pleaded guilty to all of the charges.

Because Rebecca instructed us very early on we had plenty of time to prepare her mitigation so we could try and get her the most lenient sentence.

Rebecca had contact with the office every week and had support in gathering supporting documents that would help assist her case.

For the court hearing, Rebecca was represented by one of our premier London barristers, Craig Harris.

Craig phoned the office just minutes after the court hearing had finished to fill us in on the amazing result.

Rebecca was disqualified from driving for 12 months (the minimum possible for any drink driving conviction), reduced to 9 months if she completed the Drink Drive Rehabilitation Course and received a fine of £305.

It was an absolutely incredible result for Rebecca.

Because Rebecca took control and instructed us so early on, she was able to take full advantage of our care and support from the beginning to the end of her case.