HELP? My boyfriend got caught drink driving

[hanza]

HI there,

 

A few months ago my boyfriend got caught drink driving

 

. He crashed his car into a wall and had only had 2 pints

 

. His breathalyser at the scene was on the limit, but was unable to give a 2nd as he passed out.

 

At the station they took a urine test but apparently did the test wrong which showed his urine level being higher than it should have been.

 

They also said they took 2 samples within 2 minutes of each other and then a second 55 minutes later (even though it should be an hour?!).

 

He goes to court tomorrow and his solicitor has told him to plead not guilty but it is going on the "police mucked up the test" Aspect rather than the breathalyser being on the limit..

 

Does anyone have experience of what may happen in this? OR any advice?

 

Im pregnant and due in 7 months time and i live in the middle of nowhere.

 

i NEED him to be able to drive me to the hospital as the nearest ambulance station is 45 minutes away.

 

HELP PLEASE?!

Edited September 1, 2015 by hanza

[obiter dictum]

Why did they not put him on the evidential Breathalyser at the police station

 

If he was able to give a urine test then he could have done the breath test

 

Or did he decline the Breathalser at the police station

 

He would also have been given the option of a blood test

 

Did he refuse this as well??

 

This is not looking to good to be honest

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG. I expect the forum guys will be along later with advice for you.

 

It's good that your boyfriend has a solicitor. Why did he advise pleading guilty?

 

My best, HB

[hanza]

HE didnt decline the breathalyser they just gave him a urine pot and told him to give sample. I do believe he had a blood test but i dont know the results for this. I have no idea about the evidential breathalyser, the station wont tell us much at all!

[hanza]

Sorry meant to say plead not guilty

[obiter dictum]

My own opinion and only mine

 

Me thinks he has had more than 2 pints and has been caught bang to rights

 

The road side breath tests do not have a borderline reading, red you fail, green you pass

 

If you are arrested on red and taken to the police station on suspicion of drink driving, they will always put you on the second Breathalyser. You give two samples which the police will take the lowest reading

 

If you cannot give a breath test for some reason they then offer a blood test.

If for some reason they cannot get any blood they will do a urine test

[Guest]

hanza

what is the actual charge, failing to supply breath specimen or drink driving?

 

the breath test at the stn is the first, he must've refused or it was deemed unsuitable for some reason. maybe fortunately for him he passed out when one was due...

 

but, you have a sol who knows more about what happened.

 

if you want to look at the formal regs, see the road traffic act.

[hanza]

HI ford,

 

the actual charge is drink driving. He was deemed unsuitable due to the fact he had just hit a wall at 60mph. HEs lucky to be alive tbh! But yeah if he had been able to do the second breathalyser he would of been fine!

 

I have had a look at those and the actual sentences are a bit harsh but depends on what happens really!!

[Guest]

HI ford,

 

the actual charge is drink driving. He was deemed unsuitable due to the fact he had just hit a wall at 60mph. HEs lucky to be alive tbh! But yeah if he had been able to do the second breathalyser he would of been fine!

 

I have had a look at those and the actual sentences are a bit harsh but depends on what happens really!!

 

ok,

if the later blood/urine tests showed above the limit, then was likely to be more than 2 pints as 1 or 2 average strength pints is roughly the limit (taken together with other factors), and time reduces the amount.

 

it seems then the sol accepts that, and thinks there was poss incorrect procedure (ie a 'technicality'). see the road traffic act s7 etc re the taking of specimens.

[hanza]

Yeah thats what the sol is going for. thank you!!

[BazzaS]

 

 

At the station they took a urine test but apparently did the test wrong which showed his urine level being higher than it should have been.

 

They also said they took 2 samples within 2 minutes of each other and then a second 55 minutes later (even though it should be an hour?!).

 

!

 

I can't comment on if the police applied the wrong procedures, opening up the possibility of a "not guilty" plea, but looking at the urine test:

 

The relevant part of S7 notes:

7(5) A specimen of urine shall be provided within one hour of the requirement for its provision being made and after the provision of a previous specimen of urine.

 

The first urine "sample" isn't (or shouldn't!!) be tested. The alcohol level in urine in the bladder doesn't drop as quickly as the alcohol level in the body.

So, if I get really drunk, and don't wee, as the alcohol level in my body drops as I stop drinking : the alcohol level in the urine in my bladder will be higher than that in my body.

Hence the first "sample" being taken, to empty the bladder.

 

Then any new urine going into the bladder can be tested, as it represents the alcohol level in the blood at that time, rather than earlier. This is why the Act states "and after the provision of a previous specimen of urine".

 

2 minutes between specimens isn't long enough : it could be the bladder not being emptied fully for the first 'sample'

 

So, then, it is the subsequent sample that gets tested.

It isn't that it "must be taken an hour later" .... It is that the driver is obliged by the Act to provide it within an hour.

This is so the driver can't delay and delay and delay in hope of a lower reading.

 

So, if the police sent the sample from 55 minutes later to be tested, it being taken at 55 minutes doesn't mean it isn't a sample valid to be used for evidence at prosecution.

[mikeymack2002]

Something doesn't seem right here. If the road side test was used then it is just an indication of a level. If as you state your BF collapsed then did he receive medical attention for this?

 

I think there is a lot more to this story than has been mentioned.. Is this so please?

[BazzaS]

He goes to court tomorrow and his solicitor has told him to plead not guilty

 

What happened in court?