This is one of the most common questions that we are asked during an initial enquiry. Set the scene, you’ve been charged with drink driving over the weekend – its now Monday and you need to know whether you can drive yourself to work.
Can you still drive when charged with drink driving – what does the Law say?
The law in England and Wales all operates on a common principle – you are innocent until you are proven guilty.
When you are charged with an offence, you have not yet been convicted of it. Being charged with an offence, essentially, means that the police believe that they currently have enough evidence to refer the case to the Crown Prosecution Service.
The offence of drink driving – if convicted – carries a mandatory minimum disqualification of 12 months. In the example given above, however, the person who has been charged with drink driving has not yet been convicted of it. This means that they are able to drive, completely legally, until they attend court and they are convicted of the offence.
In the same vein, you also do not need to declare the charge of drink driving to your insurance or any other regulatory body until such a time as you have been convicted of the offence.
Is there any way that I can continue driving after my Court date?
The first hearing in most criminal cases can also be classified as a “plea hearing”. As the name suggests, the main goal of a plea hearing is for you to inform the Court as to how you plead to the charges that the police have brought against you. You have two options at the plea hearing, those being “guilty” or “not guilty”.
If you enter a guilty plea at this hearing, then you are – usually – convicted of the offence at that hearing. Occasionally, the Court may ask for a pre-sentence report from the Probation Service, though this usually only occurs in more serious drink driving cases. Once you have been convicted of the offence, and appropriately sentenced, then your driving ban begins from that day and you will be unable to drive from that point onward until the ban has expired.
You do, of course, have the option of entering a “not guilty” plea. A not guilty plea would mean that your case is set down for a trial – usually anywhere from 3-6 months after the initial hearing. This means that you will be able to drive until the outcome of that trial.
Why would I plead not guilty – I blew over the limit at the station?
Contrary to what else you might have read online – there are actually a number of ways that you can possibly defend a drink driving charge. There are regularly errors in the breath test procedure on behalf of the police which can result in a case being thrown out. At M.A.J, we regularly have cases thrown out on the basis of procedural errors. If you have any questions about the correct procedure, or believe that the incorrect procedure was followed – please call us on 0151 422 8020 for advice. We do not charge for any of our initial advice with potential clients, so there really is no downside to assessing your options.
What about at the trial – what happens then?
At your trial, following a not guilty plea, there will be a consideration of all the evidence and an outcome will be given. If the outcome is a not guilty verdict – then the matter ends there and you are free to carry on driving as you please.
If the verdict is a guilty verdict, then it may seem as though your options end there and a driving ban is inevitable. Depending on whether the guilty verdict was a legally correct outcome, however, you do have the option of launching an appeal at the Crown Court. Normally, when an appeal is lodged, the Court will allow you to continue to drive (i.e. they will lift the ban) pending the outcome of the appeal.
As above, if your appeal is successful and the conviction is quashed, then you will be free to continue driving as though you were never charged. You may, also, be able to apply for a costs order to have some of your legal fees repaid.
How do I defend a drink driving charge?
Due to the technical nature of drink driving as an offence, it is possible to avoid a conviction even where you are over the limit. Our team of specialist solicitors are able to best advise you on the technicalities of drink driving as a whole, and are likely to be able to identify a possible defence within one phone call with you.
Remember, it is likely you have a defence without even knowing. We have won, and continue to win, cases for clients who are two or three times over the legal limit due to technical errors and mistakes made by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service. These aren’t “loophole” arguments, these procedures are technical for a reason and the law is designed to protect you throughout these procedures.
If you have any questions, please call us on 0151 422 8020 or read some of our case studies.
