If you are looking for an Edinburgh drink driving lawyer, then you need someone with a firm grasp of the law, the penalties and the available defences.
Perhaps most important of all, your Edinburgh drink driving lawyer should have a proven and verifiable track record – both locally and nationally – and be someone who can point to genuinely independent reviews from hundreds of satisfied clients. If you have been charged with drink driving in Edinburgh then we would urge you to read this page and then – if you wish – give us a call. Initial case advice is entirely free of charge or obligation.
The Law
It is an offence under section 5(1)(a) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to drive while in excess of the prescribed limit on a road or other public place. These prescribed limits changed in December 2014. They are 22ug in 100ml of breath, 50mg in 100ml of blood and 67mg in 100ml of urine. Although it varies from person to person, there is now a significant risk that one small glass of wine or one pint of beer will put a person over the legal limit to drive. In line with the legislation, the Crown will not only require to prove that the accused was over the legal limit at the time of driving. It is also necessary to prove that the accused was the driver and that the locus was indeed a road or other public place. These are sometimes not as straightforward as they appear. There is also the linked but separate offence of being drunk in charge of a vehicle. We discuss that offence – and its differences from drink driving – in this article.
Drink Driving Penalties
The penalties for drink driving in Scotland are severe and arguably draconian. The minimum possible penalty under law is a 12-month disqualification from driving and a fine of up to £5000 (the actual level of fine is usually lower).These are exactly the same penalties as faced by offenders in England notwithstanding the substantially lower limit in Scotland. The 12 month disqualification can be reduced by 25% if the court can be persuaded to allow the driver to participate in the drink-drive rehabilitation scheme which we describe in detail here. The scandalous situation brought about by cancellation of these schemes due to COVID-19 is now thankfully behind us. In more serious cases, the length of disqualification can be far longer than the minimum. Higher readings or repeat offences can lead to this. If it is a person’s second such offence in a 10-year period, the minimum disqualification is 3 years. In the most serious cases involving very high readings and/or repeat offending the court will consider a custodial penalty of up to 6 months in prison. In these cases, moreover, the Crown will often seek forfeiture of the vehicle in terms of the Road Traffic (Offenders) Act 1988, section 33A. We do not use the term “draconian” lightly. It is a simple fact, however, that the Scottish Government cut drink-drive limits without any changes to the minimum penalties. That is particularly galling when one considers that the power of forfeiture is also only applicable in Scotland. As a leading Glasgow drink driving lawyer we felt it was our duty to call out this injustice publicly.
The available defences
To secure a drink driving conviction in Scotland the Crown has to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. There requires to be corroborated evidence that the accused was the driver, that the driving occurred on a road or other public place, that the machine used was accurate. If a specimen of blood or urine was taken, the sample may be inadmissible if the circumstances surrounding its appropriation were unfair or if the police have failed to observe the strict rules applicable to same in section 7 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. There is also a statutory defence of “post-incident drinking in terms of section 15(3) of the Road Traffic (Offenders) Act 1988 and you can read more about that here. Sometimes (these days very occasionaly) there may be a technical issue with the device itself. If there is, as in this Glasgow case, we will spot it. The separate but related charge of being drunk in charge has its own statutory defence, called no likelihood of driving which you can read about here.
Why choose us as your Edinburgh drink driving lawyer?
We could give the standard sales pitch. We could talk about how we were the first firm in Scotland to dedicate itself wholly to the practise of road traffic law. We could talk about how we have featured on TV, Radio and National Newspapers and have represented fellow solicitors, advocates, barristers, Queens Counsel and even police officers. We could talk about how we are invited, founder members of the Association of Motor Offence Lawyers.Or how we have been invited to provide member training for the Law Society of Scotland, Glasgow Bar Association, The Royal Faculty of Procurators, and Scottish courts. Or how our current MD graduated top of his year from Glasgow University.
But drink driving is a very serious offence so we think you need more than that from your Edinburgh drink driving lawyer. As we said above important of all, your Edinburgh drink driving lawyer should have a proven and verifiable track record – both locally and nationally. Our Edinburgh outcomes can be viewed here. Our national outcomes can be viewed here. Our drink-drive case outcomes can be viewed here.
We also said that your Edinburgh drink driving lawyer someone who can point to genuinely independent reviews from hundreds of satisfied clients. We freely acknoweldge that we are not the only show in town and that there are rival firms who could also provide you with an excellent service. We therefore invite you to read our Trustpilot reviews. We are the ONLY road traffic law specialist with a Trustscore of 5.
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