Graham Allen, aged 56, was almost double the legal limit when he was caught by Hampshire Police after an anonymous tip-off. A breath test was carried out at the roadside revealing that Allen’s breath contained 69 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath – almost twice the legal limit of 35mg. The defendant who represented himself in court claimed that he had two pints of lager at lunch time and a glass of wine in the evening with his meal. He told magistrates he believed his drink was tampered with, but accepted there was no evidence to back up his claim.

Allen was fined £100 and told to pay £85 in court costs and £15 to a fund for crime victims. In addition he was banned from driving for 20 months.

35 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath
OR
80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood
OR
107 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of urine

Will I lose my licence for drink driving? – the simple answer is yes! This is what you can expect if you are convicted of drink driving:

A minimum 12 months driving ban or a minimum of a 3 year driving ban if you have a previous drink driving conviction in the past 10 years

In addition you may receive:

Up to 6 months in jail

A community Order

A fine up to £5000

Increased car insurance premiums

The offence of drink driving is not just restricted to the public highway. You can be convicted for drink driving in a “public place”. So if you are driving with excess alcohol in your body in a public car park or other public place this will constitute a drink driving offence.

Since the penalties involved are serious, if you are caught drink driving you should consult a specialist motoring lawyer.

43 year old Deborah Hunt was jailed for 7 months by Bristol Crown Court for a number of offences including driving with out insurance, drink driving and dangerous driving. In addition to her jail term she was also banned from driving for 15 months.

Jamie Still, 16, from Otley, was hit by Max McRae’s Vauxhall Corsa in Otley, West Yorkshire, on New Year’s Eve.

Mac McRae, aged 21 from Arthington, Leeds, was almost twice over the drink-drive limit killed Jamie Still from Otley when driving his Vauxhall Corsa in Leeds last New Year’s Eve.

McRae, who admitted causing death by careless driving, had been travelling at speeds estimated at 50mph in a 30mph zone, and had been performing handbrake turns in the vehicle in the car park of a garden centre not long before the fatal accident.

It was reported that his girlfriend had repeatedly asked him not to drive due to his drunken state but that he ignored her pleas with tragic consequences.

In 2000 a motorist got a ticket from a warden working for Bury Council for not parking wholely within a marked parking bay. The motorist complained that the bays were too smal and that it was impossible for most cars to fit within the bays. The council refused to cancel the ticket and the fine stood.

The went motorist to the local council offices to look at the parking order and discovered two things. Firstly that  the council not have powers to charge at that particular location and secondly that the bays, while the bays were actually marked at an angle to the kerb they should have been painted parallel to the kerb.

As a result the fine was overturned.

The legal limits are:

80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres in blood
35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres in breath
107 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres in urine

If you are found guilty of drink driving, the mandatory sentence is a period of disqualification for at least one year. In addition, you may also receive a fine of up to £5,000 and a prison sentence of up to six months.

The police are only allowed to breath test a driver if they have grounds to believe an offence has been committed. In other words purely random breath testing is not allowed. The breath test at the side of the road gives the police officer the authority to arrest the driver if he is over the drink drive limit. The driver must then give a blood or urine test at the police station and certain procedures must be followed for the test to be valid. Refusing to give a blood or urine test is in itself an offence.

Drink driving is a serious social problem which results in many deaths each year. If you feel you may have grounds to contest a drink driving prosecution, you are strongly advised to consult a lawyer specializing in drink driving cases.