Client Overjoyed | Not Guilty Verdict | Motoring Offences

Kangs Solicitors has successfully defended a client charged with being drunk in charge of a motor vehicle.

Sukhdip Randhawa explains the circumstances.

The Circumstances

• At 3:30 am one morning, when our client was asleep in his car, which was parked in a manner which a member of the public had reported to the police as being dangerous, he was awakened by a police officer.
• The keys were in the ignition and our client appeared drunk to the police officer.
• Our client provided a roadside breath test at 4.06am which showed 53 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath.  
• Our client was arrested and conveyed to the Police Station. Subsequent breath tests on the Lion Intoxilyzer revealed 44 and 42 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath respectively.
• Our client was interviewed without a solicitor being present, charged and granted bail.

How We Assisted Our Client

• Our client instructed us that he had consumed three bottles of Budweiser the previous evening, there had been family arguments into the early hours of the morning and he left home with the intention of going to a local hotel for the night to allow ‘the air to settle’.
• Whilst driving to a hotel, our client realised that he had left his wallet at home, so he parked up, drank one further can of high strength lager, smoked a cigarette and then fell asleep.
• In due course, the Prosecution indicated that the charge may be substituted with one of driving with excess alcohol.
• Whilst examining the Prosecution evidence, it was discovered that no caution had been administered to our client at the beginning of the interview and, accordingly, the Prosecution was put on notice that an application would be made to exclude the interview evidence under Section 78 of the Police & Criminal Evidence Act 1984 on the basis that the fairness of the proceedings would otherwise be prejudiced.    

The Hearing

• On the day of the Hearing, the Prosecution confirmed that the existing charge would not be replaced with a new charge of driving with excess alcohol and the interview evidence would not be used.  
• The onus then fell upon our client to show that, on a balance of probabilities, there was no likelihood of him driving his motor vehicle whilst still over the prescribed limit and he maintained this stance whilst giving evidence.
• It was emphasised to the court that our client’s alcohol level was receding dramatically  and that had he not been woken up by the police officer he would have stayed asleep for several hours, at which time he would have been within the permitted alcohol levels enabling him to drive home legally.

The Successful Outcome

• The Magistrates retired for a short period of time before returning a ‘Not Guilty’ verdict.  
• Our client was very complimentary about the manner in which his defence had been conducted, leading to such a successful result.
• Had our client been found guilty it was almost inevitable that he would have lost his job with the obvious detrimental consequences upon his life.

How Can We Help?

The team at Kangs Solicitors has proven success in defending motoring cases throughout the country and often for high profile clients.

• Kangs Represent Former England Cricket Captain | Andrew Flintoff
• Success in Defending Former Premiership Footballers

Who Can I Contact for Help?

We provide a national service for all driving related offences from our Birmingham, London and Manchester offices.