When Should You Call a Drink Driving Solicitor?

The laws of the United Kingdom provide everyone with the right to be represented and aided by a criminal solicitor or a drink driving solicitor when they are facing legal charges or in peril of losing their liberty. Depending on your situation, the law may even provide free criminal legal aid, either in person or over the telephone. In fact, if you are called into the police station, detained by the police or arrested, you have a right to be assisted by a solicitor at no charge to yourself, but there are things you should know about that representation.

Drink Driving Charges

If you are suspected of driving while intoxicated, you have a right to legal advice from the duty solicitor or from your own solicitor. The Legal Service Commission will only pay the fee for a telephone consultation under this circumstance. It is important to bring in a drink driving solicitor to advise you as soon as possible because the police must abide by specific regulations when collecting evidence or attempting to make a case. A drink driving solicitor can also help you make a case for early restoration of your driving licence, or mount a defence against a drink driving charge.

Criminal Legal Aid at the Police Station

At the police station, you are entitled to free legal advice from the duty solicitor or from your own solicitor. If the charges against you don’t carry a danger of imprisonment, or as noted above, if they concern drink driving, criminal legal aid will only pay for a telephone consultation. If you are being charged with an imprisonable offence, such as fraud or assault, you may ask for a criminal solicitor to advise you in person.

Criminal Legal Aid Before the Courts

You are entitled to legal advice and representation from a criminal solicitor whenever you are brought before the court, but the circumstances for payment of the legal fees vary depending on the section of the court, the charges against you and your financial means. When you stand before the Magistrate’s Court, you must meet specific tests before legal aid will be granted. The case against you must carry a significant chance of depriving you of your liberty or your living, and you must meet income guidelines to qualify for reduced or free criminal legal aid.

If your case will be heard before the Crown Court, you will automatically qualify for legal aid from a criminal solicitor.

Choosing a drink driving solicitor or criminal solicitor to advise and represent you is a significant decision. Don’t take chances with your freedom or your rights. Ask about your right to speak to solicitors whenever you are involved with the police.

United Kingdom Drink Driving Solicitor Advice at the Police Station

Do you need the advice of a drink driving solicitor if you are called into the police station for questioning in relation to a traffic stop? Are you aware of your rights under the law in the United Kingdom? Many people – especially those who never anticipated they might face criminal charges – know little more about their legal rights than what they see on the television court shows. Understanding your rights and what to expect at the police station can help you avoid making mistakes that could harm your defence if the police decide to charge you and you are prosecuted for a criminal offence.

Criminal Legal Aid

In much of the United Kingdom, you are entitled to free criminal legal aid at the police station if you have been arrested or asked to come in for questioning. You can also seek the advice of a drink driving solicitor, or for a criminal solicitor to advise you in responding to police questioning or requests that you submit to any type of testing to determine your alcohol level. This holds true whether you are arrested in London, Chatham, Kent or any other city or town in England or Wales.

General Advice

In general, criminal solicitors will tell you to say nothing at all to the police without a solicitor present. If you have been “invited” to the police station to answer questions, you have the right to bring your own criminal solicitor with you to be present any time you are interviewed at the station. If your solicitor or his firm holds a 2010 Standard Criminal Contract, the fee for your solicitors advice at the station will be paid by the Legal Service Commission.

If you are arrested and taken to the police station, or if at any time during your interview with the police you decide you want to have a solicitor present, you have the right to request representation. You have two choices at that point. You may accept the advice of the duty solicitor or request your own criminal legal aid solicitor.

If you request a duty solicitor, a private criminal defence attorney will be assigned to take your case according to a rota scheme. If you request your own solicitor, the Criminal Defence Call Centre will attempt to contact him or her for two hours. If they can’t reach him within two hours, they will send the duty solicitor to advise you.

Drink Driving Solicitor

If you are being questioned in connection with a drink driving offence, a non-imprisonable offence, a warrant or a breach of bail, the legal aid scheme will only cover telephone consultation with your drink driving solicitor or criminal solicitor.

No matter what charges you are facing and no matter whether you believe you are guilty of the charge or know nothing about it at all, it is in your best interests to have a criminal solicitor or drink driving solicitor representing you at the police station. It is your right and you are entitled to it.

A Drink Driving Solicitor Can Help Reinstate Your Driving Licence

Disqualification on your driving licence affects your life in many unexpected ways. If you’ve been convicted of drink driving in the United Kingdom, a 12-month drink driving ban is mandatory under nearly all circumstances. Under certain conditions, though, you may be able to have your driving licence reinstated before the end of your disqualification period. A drink driving solicitor can help you make your application to have your licence reinstated early and argue your case before the court. If you’re dealing with a drink driving suspension of your licence, here’s what you should know about the process of having your driving licence reinstated.

Eligibility

Your eligibility for early reinstatement depends upon your original penalty and your history of drink driving convictions. In most cases, if you have a first time offense with a mandatory 12-month disqualification, you are eligible to apply for early reinstatement no sooner than 56 days before the end of your suspension. On longer terms, you may be eligible to apply after you have served at least one half of the disqualification time.

Applying for Reinstatement

In many cases, you will have to sit a re-test before your licence will be restored even if you wait out the full disqualification period. You will also have to apply for a new driving licence. If you’re applying for early reinstatement, however, you will have to go before the court that originally issued the driving ban. Thus, if your licence was suspended in Chatham or London or Kent, you’ll have to appear before the court in Chatham or London or Kent.

The court will review your character and behavior since the driving suspension in making its decision. The decision will also depend upon the severity of the original offence and on your history of drink driving leading up to the latest suspension. If you have more than one drink driving conviction on your record, it will be considerably more difficult to convince a court to grant you an early reinstatement.

In cases of longer suspensions, you or your drink driving solicitor will also be expected to present a persuasive argument or reason why your licence should be reinstated early. It isn’t enough to just want to be able to drive again. The most persuasive arguments are generally related to employment, such as having a firm job offer in hand that will require you to have a driving licence.

If you’re trying to have your driving licence reinstated before the term of disqualification is done, consulting a drink driving solicitor offers your best chance to persuade the court to give you back your right to drive. Before you make your application, make a call to the offices of a solicitor experienced in criminal legal aid and drink driving offences.

Five Things Your Drink Driving Solicitor Thinks You Should Know

It’s a sad but true fact: the worst time to be looking for professional help with a drink driving charge – or any other criminal charge, for that matter – is after you’ve been charged. Of course, few people go looking for a solicitor who specializes in drink driving cases before they’re facing a drink driving charge, and no one expects that anyone should. If you did happen to consult such a professional, though, here are five bits of knowledge and advice he’d likely give you.

Don’t Ever Assume That You’re “Fine to Drive”

Many people make the mistake of thinking that enough time has lapsed since their last drink or that only two pints isn’t enough to affect they’re driving. The facts are this: there are many different factors that affect your body’s ability to metabolize alcohol. They include your size, your weight, your genetics, how much you’ve eaten, the amount of time elapsed since your last drink, the amount of alcohol you’ve consumed – even the temperature and your physical condition can play a part. In general, if you are planning to have a drink – or have been drinking – during the evening, hand the driving duties to another who is not drinking.

Do Not Refuse a Breath Test

If you are pulled over by the police and asked to submit to a drink test, do not ever refuse on the assumption that the prosecution will have a weak case without physical evidence. A refusal to take a breath test is practically an invitation to prosecution. If the police believe you were drink driving and you refuse to provide a breath sample, the likelihood that you will be charged with the offence. The court does not look kindly on those who refuse breath tests. Most will assume that a refusal is a tacit admission of guilt.

Contact a Drink Driving Solicitor at the Earliest Opportunity

The longer you wait to contact a solicitor to advise you and handle your defence, the more difficult it may be to mount an effective defence against the charges. Bringing a drink driving specialist into the picture early can prevent you from making admissions or agreements that can damage your case later in court.

Do Not Plead Guilty to a Drink Driving Charge

The police or prosecuting solicitors will frequently attempt to convince you to plead guilty to a drink driving charge in the hope of a reduced sentence. Do not do it. A guilty plea carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 12 months disqualification – but that’s just the least of the penalties that may be levied on you. Beyond the legal penalties, a drunk driving conviction on your record can affect you in many ways for years.

There Is Always a Defence

Even if you believe that you are guilty – that there is no question you were driving with an excess of alcohol in your system, there are many defences that can nullify the charges against you and save your driving licence. That’s why it’s essential that you consult a drink driving solicitor to advise you and prepare your defence if you are facing charges of driving with an excess of alcohol.