Our client was surprised that her reading was so high and called us to see if there was anything we could do to help.

She told us that the machine at the police station was not working so the police called the doctor to take blood.

After a few questions it became clear that the doctor had not done the procedure correctly.

Our client told us that she specifically remembered the doctor taking blood from one arm and then because he could not get much blood he tried the other arm.

This was completely wrong and gave our client a cast iron defence.

At court the doctor gave evidence. He had been a police doctor for 35 years. He could not remember whether he took 1 or 2 lots of blood but it didn’t matter anyway because he could take more than 1 specimen and mix them together.

Wrong.

The court agreed (they had no choice the law is clear). They threw the case out and ordered that our clients costs be repaid.

The blood must be from 1 attempt, even if there is only a tiny amount from the first attempt it is invalid and makes the sample inadmissible.

But it’s not as simple as that. A lot of drivers are being charged with drink driving because they drove the following morning whilst still over the limit.

Everyone eliminates alcohol at a different rate, our scientific expert says that the most likely elimination rate is 8ug% per hour. The limit is 35ug%.

A pint of beer is around 15ug%, if you have 7 pints you would have a reading of around 105ug% depending on various factors. That means it would take up to 9 hours before you are below the legal limit, if you are an early starter that could cause problems. Particularly if you stayed on in the pub to drown your sorrows.

I hear this often, about 2 or 3 calls every day are from someone saying that they had only driven a very short distance. It normally turns out that that short distance is about half a mile. This is far too far, the courts have said in the past that even 400 yards can be too far. You have to show that there was no risk of coming into contact with other road users.

My client had been out to a pub, popped back to his car to get his phone. His car had been parked up in the pub car park and he was intending to get a taxi home. As he got in the car he saw that the window was icing up. With the snow and ice he was concerned that he would not be able to get the car out in the morning as it was facing up a slight incline in the pub car park. He decided that he would turn the car around to face the other way to make it easier to move it in the morning.

He was stopped as he was moving it, the police were called and he was arrested. He had moved it 5 foot.

The important thing that we had to show was that he did not intend to go much further and that there was little possibility that he would come into contact with any road users.

The matter has been adjourned for a special reasons hearing in 2 months time, in the meantime he will be able to drive and the court will decide at the hearing whether this is sufficient for special reasons.

**Steve Williams is the Motoring Solicitor, these diaries are based on true case, details, including the court have been changed in order to protect the clients confidentiality. Not all of Steve Williams’ cases are reported in the diary.

If you would like free, impartial advice from Steve Williams call now 0800 1933 999

He was 2 1/2 times over the limit and was involved in a 7 vehicle crash on the A52.

There are a number of aggravating features that the court will have taken into account in this case.

The court has sentencing guidelines that they follow and things such as being involved in a crash, working as a public servant at the time and the high reading are all things that they will consider makes the case more serious.

For the sentencing guidelines click here

Call us any time on 0800 1933 999  for free initial advice

Figures also show that in 2009 only 2% of drivers were given road side breath tests.

Does this mean that drivers are taking chances and driving when over the limit?

We rarely get clients who have deliberately driven whilst over the limit. The majority have miscalculated the amount they have had or have driven the following morning believing that they were under the limit.

Regardless of the circumstances a ban cannot be avoided for drink driving unless some very specific conditions apply.

For details see – Special Reasons to avoid being disqualified for drink driving.

Call us on 0800 1933 999 at any time for free, specialist advice.

Statistics show that more people are caught drink driving during the summer than at any other time.

Quite apart from the obvious risk to yourself and other people the punishment for drink driving is very harsh. The courts have to ban you for a minimum of 12 months, even if you are only a little way over the limit.

The length of the ban will increase depending on the level of alcohol as well as other factors such as whether you had passengers in the car, the time of day and the manner of the driving.

Whilst the court have to ban you they can be persuaded to reduce that ban to a minimum and to offer you a course which would reduce it by 25%.

It is important that you have assistance from a specialist drink driving solicitor who can really make a difference to the level of the ban.

In some circumstances there may even be a defence.

Call us on 0800 1933 999 at any time for free, specialist advice.

Many people don’t realise how long it takes for the alcohol to leave your system and a heavy nights drinking can leave you over the limit the following day.

The punishment is just the same, the courts have to disqualify you for a minimum of 12 months. They will often disqualify you for longer because there are a number of factors that make it more serious such as it being a busy time of day and having passengers in the car.

In this case I was able to persuade the court to be lenient in terms of the length of sentence.

If you find yourself in a similar situation it is important that you get advice from a specialist lawyer. Call us any time on 0800 1933 999 for free initial advice.

There are a number of ways we can do this, sometimes there is a defence. If we can’t find a defence then we look to see if there are any special reasons that we can use to avoid disqualification.

Recently at Leicester Magistrates my client had been charged with drink driving. He asked me to attend to try and keep the ban to a minimum. I went through the papers with him and it looked like the police had made a mistake with the procedure. I advised him that he should plead not guilty.

We went into to court and I explained the defence to the prosecutor who agreed that the police had made a mistake. She suggested that we adjourn the matter and she would check with the police to see if they had conducted the procedure as it appeared they had.

2 weeks later the CPS wrote to us saying they were dropping the case against my client.

The court agreed to refund my client’s reasonable costs so a great result all round for him.

Call Steve Williams on 0800 1933 999 for a free initial assessment of your case.

When a client is desperate to keep their licence they tend to look for a specialist drink drive lawyer.

We are local to Chesterfield and well known there. We are confident that we will get results for our clients based on our 20 years of experience and specialism in drink driving defences.

Because we have an vast knowledge of the intricate laws of drink driving we are often able to find a defence which will mean you keep your licence. If we cannot find a defence then we will be able to present your case in a way that will persuade the court to impose the shortest ban they think is appropriate in the circumstances.

Only you know whether it is worth it to employ a specialist drink drive solicitor, if it is important to you to keep on the road or to get back driving as soon as possible then you should employ a specialist.

Call Steve Williams on 0800 1933 999 for a free initial assessment of your case.

I am often asked ‘is it worth me having a specialist drink driving solicitor at court’. My response is always ‘only you can answer that, only you know how important your licence is to you’.

Would it make a difference if we found a way to keep your licence? Even if we couldn’t keep your licence would it make a difference if we could persuade the court to reduce the ban by a few months? What difference would it make to you if you could drive and get back to work a few months earlier?

I have sat in court listening to cases before mine has been called on, I have sometimes heard the duty solicitor represent 3 clients on drink driving matters before mine is called on. After the client has asked ‘how come mine ban was lower than theirs even though my reading was higher?’

Apart from the fact that we are specialists in this sort of case the difference is often the preparation. The duty solicitor will have arrived at court by 9:30, been given a list of up to 10 people wanting advice and then had to sift through those, read the prosecution papers for them all, take instructions, advised whether to plead guilty, checked the sentencing guidelines, filled in the clients means forms and then be ready to represent the clients in court. In fairness it’s no wonder they miss things.

As I sit in the interview room with my client I see a steady flow of customers queueing up to see the duty solicitor. I will have already spent at least an hour with my client on the phone going through the matter. I normally do this in the evenings when the client can relax at home and make sure they cover everything they want the court to know. We then arrive at court early, go through the papers in our own time. When we are ready we will go into court ready to present the best case for the client. Sometimes we are in before the harassed duty solicitor, sometimes behind her, but always fully prepared.

If you want your case to be fully prepared and presented to the court call me on 0800 1933 999 for free initial assessment of your case.