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Marky8888
I was arrested by the side of the road by 2 policemen who were standing by my car. I went over to the policemen to ask what was going on. I was drunk at the time and had my car keys on me.

I was locked in the Cells overnight and bailed the following morning from the police station to answer bail in a few weeks time. I have been charged with being in charge of a motor vehicle while unfit due to alcohol. I had my car keys on me, I had been to the pub and I was very very drunk (breath tested 175) But I approached the police next to my car, they did not approach me. They confiscated my clothes for forensic examination, have visited me twice at home as early as 7am on a Sunday and been 3 times to my place of work to interview me and confirm my whereabouts.

I was banned for 2 years for Drinking and Driving 7 years ago and the police said Im going down this time unless I plead guilty. I have spoken to a solicitor who has said to contact him after a formal charge is made.

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks in advance
roadrunner 163
what was said by you and the officers in interview?
Grant_W
You were bailed to return to the police station without being charged?

You have then been visited whilst on bail 5 times?

You have been interviewed whilst on bail? Where? How?

Seems highly strange and against PACE.
Logician
QUOTE
I have been charged with being in charge of a motor vehicle while unfit due to alcohol

QUOTE
I have spoken to a solicitor who has said to contact him after a formal charge is made.

Have you been charged or not?

Why did you approach the police next to your car, and what did you say?
What were your intentions concerning your car?

As long as you never attempted to drive, custody seems unlikely though not impossible.
ict_guy
Did you so much as touch the vehicle?
Grant_W
QUOTE (ict_guy @ Wed, 1 Dec 2010 - 18:28) *
Did you so much as touch the vehicle?


That matters not.

Drunk in charge is all about the intention to drive whilst over the limit.
ict_guy
QUOTE (Grant_W @ Wed, 1 Dec 2010 - 18:31) *
QUOTE (ict_guy @ Wed, 1 Dec 2010 - 18:28) *
Did you so much as touch the vehicle?


That matters not.

Drunk in charge is all about the intention to drive whilst over the limit.


No, it matters a lot! Since if a suspect is touching the vehicle then they may have difficulty proving they had no intention of driving it.
jobo
touching is mostly irelivent to be honest

its your intention thats the defining point, many people who are just walking towards it and never in touching distance have been done,,, whilst people asleep inside have been aquited, with there being to some extent a reverse burden of proof on those intentions

walking to your car, to see what two policemen are doing looking at it might work, but if your 10 miles from home, not on a bus route and with no taxi booked, then they might not believe your intention was anything other than to drive it
RDA
I would suggest that the key to a defence of this nature is the likelihood of driving the vehicle rather than intention.

"It is a defence for a person charged with an offence ...to prove that at the time he is alleged to have committed the offence the circumstances were such that there was no likelihood of his driving the vehicle whilst the proportion of alcohol in his breath, blood or urine remained likely to exceed the prescribed limit.”
Marky8888
Thanks all....

I was less than 5 minutes walk away from my house. My intention was to walk home and go back for the car the next day or get my girlfriend to go around and get it

I have been bailed without charge for the alleged offence.

I was curious so went over to my car where the police were already standing. I wanted to know what was going on. I made no attempt to get in to the car - I knew I was drunk and couldnt drive. When I approached the car I asked what the problem was to the police

I have been visited 5 times. Once was an error I was told as they were unaware I was visited earlier in the morning

I was intereviewed at the Police station (Metropolitan Police) where I admitted to being drunk but I had no intention to drive as I only lived around the corner. I was visited at home and asked more questions and to verify my residence and again at work


Logician
Sound to me as though they realise that you have a defence that is likely to succeed and are looking to see if there are any holes in it.
Ocelot
Sounds like you have a good case if you do get charged.
ict_guy
Was there a reason for them to be at your vehicle? Had they seen you drive to that spot? How long had you been in the pub and how much had you had to drink whilst at the pub, since you left you vehicle? More to the point, did you have any alcohol prior to last driving the vehicle?
Grant_W
Marky

The way this investigation has been conducted it looks like they have no chance of a prosecution.

I mean visiting some one at their home address to verify residence once they've been bailed.

What if you had given false details would you have told them you didn't live there? biggrin.gif

The crux of any prosection/defence would be if you had were going to pick your car up the following day, when would it be and how would you know you would be fit to drive when you did so.

QUOTE (ict_guy @ Thu, 2 Dec 2010 - 16:25) *
Had they seen you drive to that spot? How long had you been in the pub and how much had you had to drink whilst at the pub, since you left you vehicle? More to the point, did you have any alcohol prior to last driving the vehicle?


Why does any of that matter?

The OP admits to being drunk so therefore no doubt over the limit.

He is not under investigation for driving the vehicle. if he was then he wouldn#t have much of a defence.

He is under investigation for being drunk in charge and as we have already told you this is all down to the likelyhood of him driving whilst over the limit.
Mayhem007
QUOTE (Marky8888 @ Wed, 1 Dec 2010 - 17:23) *
I was banned for 2 years for Drinking and Driving 7 years ago and the police said Im going down this time unless I plead guilty. I have spoken to a solicitor who has said to contact him after a formal charge is made.



Did the police have prior knowledge of your previous conviction or did you divulge this to them upon being questioned.

It appears on the face of it that they are on some sort crusade, especially with the ludicrous threat of imprisonment.
viper
I would imagine a PNC check would have revealed the prior drink drive conviction. Sounds bit unusual the level of effort they putting into case. The identity thing is also strange as if you been arrested before they should have your fingerprints which would give them your identity.

The case will boil down to the officers statements. Were keys in ignition so on and so forth.

"They confiscated my clothes for forensic examination"

What offences were you arrested for? Is it just the driving in charge or are we missing something?

(breath tested 175)

That is one crazy figure suprised you remember anything
Grant_W
QUOTE (viper @ Sat, 4 Dec 2010 - 22:38) *
The case will boil down to the officers statements. Were keys in ignition so on and so forth.


No, the case boils down to any intention to drive.

Keys in the ignition don't matter the OP wasn't even in the car.
viper
Until the person has the officers witness statements this is a pointless discussion. He claims he blew 175 on a breath test which is close to being in a coma. He recollection of events seems clear but with that reading your memory and all other functions would be severely impaired. I would imagine maybe police taking it serious because of the reading you would want to be drinking some time to get a reading like that. Were police called to the scene as the chances of police just happening to be standing by your car are rather remote.

jobo
QUOTE (viper @ Sat, 4 Dec 2010 - 22:55) *
Until the person has the officers witness statements this is a pointless discussion. He claims he blew 175 on a breath test which is close to being in a coma. He recollection of events seems clear but with that reading your memory and all other functions would be severely impaired. I would imagine maybe police taking it serious because of the reading you would want to be drinking some time to get a reading like that. Were police called to the scene as the chances of police just happening to be standing by your car are rather remote.


175 is only 8 or nine pints ish, hardly a coma, just a night out round here
viper
175mcgs on a breath test would be five times the legal limit exactly. 35 mcgs being the legal limit.

I make it 15 pints roughly
jobo
QUOTE (viper @ Sat, 4 Dec 2010 - 23:13) *
175mcgs on a breath test would be five times the legal limit exactly. 35 mcgs being the legal limit.

I make it 15 pints roughly


what of, bars shandy

if two pints roughly equates to 35 m 70 equals 4 pints 140 8 pints 175 10 pints and thats not allowing for strong larger

or have you built in a count back calculation to take account of urine passing through the system minus kebab stop
viper

175mcgs is an absolutely ridiculous reading.

Telling magistrates it was the highest reading he had come across in his professional career, Mr Haywood said: "I'm struggling to think of a beer that would produce that reading without the quantities being enormous."

http://www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk/news/Dri...il/article.html
ford poplar
Are we forgetting some procedural points?

Was the OP asked how long since his last drink of alcohol? <20 mins?
175 may be possible if you had just rinsed your mouth with strong spirit plus pre-existing load.
(Viper links 2 cases with similar levels in drivers)
Did he blow 175 at the roadside?
For a drunk in charge are you entitled to two goes on the station intoxilyser? If so what was the lower reading?

I realise the OPs relevent brain cells may no longer exist

Why did they take your clothes for forensic examination? Suggests some kind of incident was reported before the 'pull'
Mayhem007
I don't think the OP is being totally up front with us.

Many posts have been put by members asking pertinent questions that have gone unanswered.

Lets say the OP has had 8 pints. It could be he has had 15 pints throughout the coarse of the day.

Police officer's around the car would appear to imply an earlier event, which the OP has not divulged.

The question of clothes being removed for forensic tests implies that the OP may or may have not been contact with

with surroundings of a prior event. I daresay the OP must now be in possesion of information from the landlord,

as to questions from the police, given that it is his local and the OP likes a drink or two.

Real question is...is the OP wasting our time when he possibly might me guilty of a far more serious criminal act.
JSB1
QUOTE (Mayhem007 @ Sun, 5 Dec 2010 - 09:28) *
I don't think the OP is being totally up front with us.
Many posts have been put by members asking pertinent questions that have gone unanswered.
Lets say the OP has had 8 pints. It could be he has had 15 pints throughout the coarse of the day.
Police officer's around the car would appear to imply an earlier event, which the OP has not divulged.
The question of clothes being removed for forensic tests implies that the OP may or may have not been contact with
with surroundings of a prior event. I daresay the OP must now be in possesion of information from the landlord,
as to questions from the police, given that it is his local and the OP likes a drink or two.
Real question is...is the OP wasting our time when he possibly might me guilty of a far more serious criminal act.

While what you are saying is very logical, there could be an ("innocent") explanation.

I would like to know (some of these questions have been asked by others, and are unanswered):
* how near was his car parked to the place where he last drank (pub?);
* if a reasonable (for a drunk man) route from that place to his home passed next to his car, so arguably he was merely walking home;
* whether he deviated from that route in order to investigate why police were standing near to his car;
* why he thinks the police were already standing near his car (drunk as he was, would he remember things clearly?) - for example, he might have been observed emerging drunk from the car at an earlier time and then walking to the final watering-hole
and some more things. Is the OP still with us?
Mayhem007
Only 1 post from OP's original.

He's certainly conspicuous by his absense !
JSB1
QUOTE (Mayhem007 @ Sun, 5 Dec 2010 - 12:38) *
Only 1 post from OP's original.
He's certainly conspicuous by his absense !

Yep... If I was in his shoes, facing this situation, I'd be monitoring PePiPoo like a hawk for useful advice, and answering queries.
And I'd be sober. happy.gif
Grant_W
Maybe he'll be on when his hangovers cleared up.
jobo
QUOTE (Grant_W @ Sun, 5 Dec 2010 - 15:59) *
Maybe he'll be on when his hangovers cleared up.

prob been arrested and strip search ( again )
MD1992
Not only should you be defending rigorously the charge, you should also be seeking damages for the stress of the police hounding you in this way. I'd definitely recommend speaking with a decent 'claims against the police' solicitor.
peterguk
QUOTE (MD1992 @ Sun, 5 Dec 2010 - 23:18) *
Not only should you be defending rigorously the charge, you should also be seeking damages for the stress of the police hounding you in this way. I'd definitely recommend speaking with a decent 'claims against the police' solicitor if I were you.


Know something we don't?
MD1992
QUOTE (peterguk @ Sun, 5 Dec 2010 - 23:22) *
QUOTE (MD1992 @ Sun, 5 Dec 2010 - 23:18) *
Not only should you be defending rigorously the charge, you should also be seeking damages for the stress of the police hounding you in this way. I'd definitely recommend speaking with a decent 'claims against the police' solicitor if I were you.


Know something we don't?

Based on the OP, the multiple police visits to work place and home, not to mention the unlawful arrest.
As others have commented, however, this story does seem a little odd / incomplete.
Mayhem007
QUOTE (MD1992 @ Sun, 5 Dec 2010 - 23:18) *
Not only should you be defending rigorously the charge, you should also be seeking damages for the stress of the police hounding you in this way. I'd definitely recommend speaking with a decent 'claims against the police' solicitor.


Hmmm... I take it that you know this guy or the local police.

How on earth can you come to the conclusion of hounding.

The plot thickens...tell us more.
MD1992
QUOTE (Mayhem007 @ Sun, 5 Dec 2010 - 23:27) *
How on earth can you come to the conclusion of hounding.

The plot thickens...tell us more.

The poster was visited twice at home and thrice at work, presumably without warning.
For an alleged drink driving offence where (s)he apparently made no attempt to drive their vehicle.
Grant_W
QUOTE (MD1992 @ Sun, 5 Dec 2010 - 23:32) *
QUOTE (Mayhem007 @ Sun, 5 Dec 2010 - 23:27) *
How on earth can you come to the conclusion of hounding.

The plot thickens...tell us more.

The poster was visited twice at home and thrice at work, presumably without warning.
For an alleged drink driving offence where (s)he apparently made no attempt to drive their vehicle.



The OP was arrested for being drunk in charge. wink.gif

Care to tell us where it states you must attempt to drive?
MD1992
QUOTE (Grant_W @ Mon, 6 Dec 2010 - 12:51) *
The OP was arrested for being drunk in charge. wink.gif

Care to tell us where it states you must attempt to drive?

Irrelevant.
There's no need for so many visits, particularly at work.
jobo
with out dissing the OP, we sometimes get bored people who just make things up, post on here and never come back again

i dont know if the OP is one such BUT he has not returned, so maybe its all true, maybe it isnt ?
Mayhem007
Perhaps as to results of forensic tests on the clothes he has been locked up.

The plot thickens.
Grant_W
QUOTE (MD1992 @ Mon, 6 Dec 2010 - 18:53) *
QUOTE (Grant_W @ Mon, 6 Dec 2010 - 12:51) *
The OP was arrested for being drunk in charge. wink.gif

Care to tell us where it states you must attempt to drive?

Irrelevant.
There's no need for so many visits, particularly at work.


Er....... yes it is relevant.

The drunk in charge offence and any complaint the OP may have against the police are two separate issues.

Any complaint would not be dealt with until the drunk in charge is finalised.
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