Drunk in charge of a motor vehicle
The offence
Being drunk in charge of a motor vehicle means that the prosecution must prove that you are unfit to drive and that you are in charge of the vehicle. If it is your car then you will usually be in charge unless you have given control of the vehicle to somebody else.
There is no requirement for the police to prove how much alcohol you had consumed and this version of the offence does not require the police to conduct a breathalyser test on you. They will prove their cases by claiming they could smell alcohol on your breath and by saying you were behaving as if you were drunk, e.g. staggering, falling asleep, slurring your words, etc.
Sentence for being drunk in charge
The maximum sentence is 3 months imprisonment. The court can also ban you from driving and fine you up to £2,500 as well as ordering you to pay the victim surcharge of up to £120 and a contribution toward the prosecution costs.
If the court decides not to ban you from driving it can impose up to 10 penalty points, which will effectively mean a driving ban for anybody who already has points on their driving licence - see below for how our solicitors can help you avoid a driving ban.
The court may also order that your vehicle is seized by the police and destroyed.
How we will win your trial
There are two ways that our solicitors will fight your trial. First, your solicitor will look to undermine the prosecution evidence. Secondly, your solicitor will look for a defence to the allegation.
Undermining the prosecution case
There are a number of ways that our solicitors can win your trial by undermining the prosecution case. First, your solicitor will look to exclude key prosecution evidence from the trial, which will mean they cannot rely upon it. If successful the prosecution will be forced to drop the case against you.
Your solicitor will also look to cross-examine the police officer to show that either you were not unfit or you were not in charge of the vehicle at the time. Success on either front will result in you being found not guilty.
Defences to being drunk in charge
There are a wide selection of defences that our solicitors can use to win your trial. Once they have spoken to you, our solicitor will recommend the defence most appropriate and most likely to succeed.
A common defence is proving that there was no likelihood of you driving even though you were drunk and in charge when the police found you. If you and your solicitor can show that you would not have driven the car while unfit then you will be found not guilty. Problems can arise with this defence if you are not completely clear with the court about your intentions so it is important to seek legal advice from a solicitor before using this defence.
Avoiding a driving ban
If you do decide to plead guilty there is a risk of a driving ban being imposed. Because the driving ban for being in charge while unfit is at the courts discretion there are a number of tactics our solicitors use to ensure you are not banned from driving.
Mitigation
The first part of the battle is to convince the court that it should not exercise its discretion to issue a driving ban. Solicitors do this by mitigating the offence and by telling the court about you. Exactly what is said depends heavily on you and the circumstances of the offence and is a decision that can only be made after your solicitor has spoken to you.
Special reasons
After your solicitor has convinced the court that you do not deserve an immediate driving ban the next stage is to avoid you being banned under the totting up provisions - where you have 12 or more penalty points on your driving licence at any one time.
Our solicitors will look to convince the court that there is something unusual about your offence that gives it a special reason not to impose penalty points on your driving licence. When your solicitor wins this argument the case is over and you can drive away from the court having avoiding a driving ban.
Exceptional hardship
In some situations, the court will impose penalty points after you have admitted being in charge while unfit. If this takes you over 12 penalty points then you fall to be banned from driving immediately for at least 6-months. However, your solicitor will argue that a driving ban causes you (or better still somebody else) exceptional hardship. Once your solicitor has convinced the court of the exceptional hardship you will avoid the driving ban and be allowed to continue driving despite having more than 12 penalty points on your driving licence!
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.
Call us now on 020 8242 4440 to discuss your options. Or you can send an email via our contact us page.