Case Dropped at the First Court Hearing
Could your case be dropped at court?
Drink Driving / Drug Driving / Failing to provide
When someone is charged with drink or drug driving they will be bailed to attend court. The purpose of the first court hearing is to enter a plea to the allegation (guilty or not guilty). You will not be expected to present evidence at this hearing and the police officers will not be in attendance. Most people assume they have to enter a guilty plea because they're over the limit, but that isn't correct. Lots of cases are dropped by the CPS through lack of evidence.
It is important that the motorist is provided with advance disclosure of evidence against them before the first hearing. This is known as the IDPC and should contain, as a minimum;
- The case summary
- The MGDD forms completed by the police
- The breathalyser printout or, in drug driving cases, the streamlined forensic toxicology report (SFR1)
- A PNC record
Believe it or not, the CPS are now providing case summary documents without the MGDD forms at the first hearing! In other words, motorists are expected to enter a plea without even seeing the evidence against them! The CPS expects all motorists just to roll over and plead guilty so, to save on costs, it doesn't bother to obtain the evidence from the police or provide it to the motorist. Nice!
How do I obtain the initial evidence?
The CPS don't like you to know this, but you can ask for initial disclosure up to two weeks prior to your first hearing. The quickest way to obtain the evidence is to ask your solicitor. We can download your evidence from a portal called Common Platform. Unfortunatley, you need a specialist email account called CJSM to access this portal.
If you don't have a solicitor you can normally ask for the evidence by emailing the CPS directly. To do this, Google 'CPS IDPC request' followed by the area/region where your case is being heard (e.g. CPS IDPC request Ipswich). This should take you to the official .gov website where you'll find contact details.
I would always want to check the evidence against my client. It's amazing how often the police make mistakes. If the evidence against you is unreliable, it cannot be used in court. Don't feel pressured into pleading guilty.
How I won my client's driving case
At the first court hearing!
I was at court representing a client charged with drink driving. It was a first hearing so I expected to obtain the advance disclosure when we got to court. After being handed what was described to me as the advance disclosure, I asked the CPS solicitor if she was now going to drop the case against my client. Looking rather confused she asked why. No MGDDA form, no breathalyser printout, no evidence, I responded. She explained that most motorists don't know what to look for and just plead guilty so there is no point wasting time and money in obtaining and checking the evidence! The prosecutor told me she'd been handed 16 case files the night before and knew nothing about my client's case. She hadn't even opened the case file until I spoke to her!
Rather than just drop the case against my client she made a few frantic phone calls to get the evidence faxed to the court for me to check. Interestingly, when the MGDDA form was faxed to the court it had a missing page. In addition, the breathalyser printout was not signed. When the judge enquired as to the content of the missing page the CPS solicitor had to explain that it was the page where the police officer signs to confirm all is correct! The CPS mumbled a few words, looked at me and then dropped the case. My client was awarded costs and left court with his licence in hand!
A recent survey found that almost one-third of all summary-only cases are dropped on or before first court hearings (a summary-only case is a case that can only be heard in the magistrates' court - it will not go to the crown court). The process by which a suspect is charged with drink or drug driving has changed recently. The cps have very little involvement in these cases early on. This is causing practical problems because the police are pushing hopeless cases to court, probably to hit targets. When the case reaches court the cps lawyer has to review it and consider the evidence. Only then do they realise that the evidence is poor. Of course, if you stroll into court and plead guilty the cps will keep quiet, even if the evidence against you is insufficient.
More and more of our drink and drug driving cases are now being dropped on or before the first hearing. The CPS are currently dealing with an unmanageable number of criminal cases. Funding cuts, staffing shortages and administration issues are leading to evidential errors and procedural problems. This is why it is critically important to check the evidence available, rather than just plead guilty.
If you have been charged with a drink or drug driving related case, please get in touch. If we act quick enough, we may be able to persuade the police not to charge you. If you've already been charged and have received a court date, it's not too late. We may be able to force the cps to drop the case against you
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