Drink driving
Drink driving - sentence
The maximum sentence is 6-months imprisonment and a driving ban of at least 12 months. If you avoid a driving ban the court can impose up to 11 penalty points, which will effectively mean a driving ban if you have any penalty points on your driving licence already.
If you have been convicted of a drink driving offence, which includes things like failing to provide, within the past 10 years then the minimum ban is 3-years. People who have previous convictions for drink driving or related offences are far more likely to be sent to prison than first time offenders.
The court will impose a fine in most cases, which can be up to £5,000 as well as the victim surcharge of £120 and prosecution costs.
As if that wasn't enough, the court has the power to order the forfeiture and destruction of your car as part of the sentence. You will not receive any compensation for the loss of your vehicle.
Avoiding the drink driving ban
If you are a first time drink driver there isn't a huge risk of prison, but the driving ban can still be enough to lose most people their job and their home. This is where it pays to instruct an expert drink driving solicitor who knows the courts and judges in your local area.
Special reasons for avoiding a drink driving ban
There are two ways special reasons can be used. First, by avoiding the automatic driving ban and secondly, by avoiding penalty points that would take you over the 12 point maximum. Broadly speaking, there are three potential groups of special reasons:
1. Those explaining how you because unfit to drive (or had excess alcohol in your system);
2. Those explaining why you drove while unfit or over the drink driving limit; and
3. Miscellaneous circumstances that relate to the offence.
The special reasons you chose to rely upon will be unique to you. If you would like to discuss your situation with an expert drink driving solicitor call us on 020 8242 4440 or visit our contact us page.
Where our solicitors convince the court that special reasons exist not to ban you from driving you will not be automatically banned from driving.
Visit our pages on special reasons to find out more.
Exceptional hardship in drink driving cases
When you tot up to 12 or more penalty points on your driving licence the court is required to ban you from driving. However, your solicitor will argue that a driving ban would cause you (or somebody else) exceptional hardship. The hardship can be almost anything and our solicitors are good at pointing out when hardship becomes exceptional. Call us now and one of our solicitors will be happy to discuss with you when you call us on 020 8242 4440
Visit our exceptional hardship page to find out more
Find out more
Follow the links below to find out about defences to drink driving allegations and the sentence you are likely to receive if convicted of drink driving.
What should I do now?
Being accused of a criminal offence is a stressful time and you may think that it's impossible to defend yourself or save your driving licence. We can review the case against you and give you our expert opinion on the strength of the evidence against, errors made by the prosecution, possible tactics to have prosecution evidence excluded, defences available and whether you can avoid penalty points if convicted. In 99.99% of cases we can provide this review quickly and cheaply so you can decide what to do once you have the full facts and not just the police's version.
You are also welcome to call us and speak with an experienced solicitor about your case for some preliminary advice. Although your solicitor can only give basic advice on the telephone based on what you say you will get an idea of what can be done. There's nothing to pay until you decide to instruct us, so if you decide not to instruct as after speaking on the telephone then it won't cost you a penny.
Feel free to give us a call now on 020 8242 4440 To discuss your options. Or you can send an email via our contact us page.