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A drink driving conviction does not always mean you will lose
your driving licence - an expert solicitor can help |
Drink driving is a serious crime that carries, what is normally, a mandatory driving ban; however, there are situations where a drink driving ban can be avoided. I regularly speak to people who have spoken to other
people or done their own research online and reached the conclusion that a
drink driving conviction means that they will lose their driving licence no matter what. Worryingly, I’ve spoken to criminal law
solicitors (and even court legal advisors) who have no idea that it is possible
for somebody to escape a driving ban following a conviction for drink driving.
Earlier this week we attended an unusual type of
trial. The Defendant had already
confessed to the police that he was drink driving and had entered a guilty plea
at this first court appearance. His
trial was not about whether he was guilty or not but whether he should be
disqualified from driving.
His explanation was that he had driven to meet friends
intending to drive home. He parked
legally but his plans changed and he decided to have some alcoholic
drinks. As he left the bar, he realised
his car would be parked unlawfully come morning time; he was offered a permit
to park overnight in a space reserved for the bar so decided to move his car
the 150 yards to a space in the bar’s private car park. He was seen driving without his lights on by
the police who decided to speak to him.
He confessed that he had been drinking and told them that he was
probably over the drink driving limit.
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The Defendant made a full confession
to the PC who witnessed him driving |
The question for the court was whether driving the 150
metres – about half of which was on a public road – to re-park his car was a
special reason for not imposing the otherwise obligatory driving ban. The case law says that the distance must be "measured in yards not miles" and most of the cases typically find in favour of the driver where the distance driven was 50 yards or less (for anyone who isn't sure one yard is close enough to one metre for us not to need to worry about the difference).
Nicholas Diable of
London Drink Driving Solicitor
appeared at the special reasons trial to represent the Defendant. Nick argued that the court should apply the
test in a 1986 case called
Chatters v
Burke where the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court identified seven
matters that should be taken into account by magistrates when deciding short
distance driven cases. They are:
1. How
far the vehicle was drive;
2. Whether
the driver intended to go any further;
3. The
manner in which it was driven;
4. The
state of the vehicle;
5. The
road and traffic conditions at the time;
6. Whether
there was a possibility of danger to
other road users; and
7. The
reason for the car being driven.
Nick cross examined the police officers who witnessed the
Defendant driving and was able to get them to agree that the Defendant had been
parking his car and told them at the time that he did not intend to drive
anywhere else; that the car was driven normally (albeit with the headlights
switched off); that they noticed nothing wrong with the car; there were no
adverse road conditions at the time and, importantly, that there were no other
vehicles or pedestrians present at the time.
Evidence from the Defendant and another witness was
called to prove all the above points and that the Defendant intended to take a
taxi once he had re-parked.
Having heard the evidence put forward, the District Judge
trying the case ruled that he was left in no doubt that there was no risk to
other road users and Nick was able to convince him that 150 metres driven was a short enough distance to
count.
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You can escape the driving
ban with the right help |
As a result, the Defendant kept his driving licence and
received a fine about 70% lower than he otherwise would have done. His licence was endorsed with 10 penalty
points.
In another similar case, Nick convinced a court to allow
a young lady to keep her driving in very similar circumstance. In that case, the Defendant received just
four penalty points and a £100 fine.
The prospects of success depend very much on the
particular facts of a case and not everybody will be able to rely on a special
reason to avoid a disqualification – but there are lots of people who can.
Special reasons allow people to escape the driving ban in
a number of other situations not just those involving short distances. Common examples are where a person’s drink
has been spiked with extra alcohol without their knowledge and when there is a
genuine emergency that required them to drive.
