Drink Driving and Related Offences

If you are convicted of Drink Driving, or one of a number of closely related offences, you can expect to be disqualified from driving and either ordered to pay a fine, to do community service, or even be sent to prison. With such serious consequences at stake, you should consider your options very carefully.

What should I do if I have been charged with a drink drive offence?

It is normal for motorists to be very anxious indeed if facing such a charge. Don’t panic as this will not help you. You will probably be considering engaging a motor offence solicitor to represent you. Before you do consider this:

Claims about ‘success rates’ can give rise to false hope and be very misleading as each case turns on its own facts. (For more information about success rates read our blog here.) We listen to our clients’ instructions, assess the evidence in the case, and then give advice on the merits of your case in your interests rather than simply encouraging our clients to plead ‘Not Guilty’.

We Will Always Be Mindful of Your Best Interests

Many ‘drink driving’ lawyers encourage their clients to fight cases even when they admit drinking and driving. Before you engage a firm that adopts this approach consider this fact: the vast majority of those charged with drink driving are convicted. Some drink drive lawyers give the impression that virtually every case should be contested!

Should I plead ‘Guilty’ to Drink Driving?

It is not easy to come to terms with pleading ‘Guilty’ with the loss of driving licence and other consequences that will follow. However, admitting an offence in court entitles you to ‘credit’ for the ‘Guilty’ plea. This means that your sentence will be less severe. It could be the difference between avoiding a harsher penalty such as community service or even prison and, in practice, tends to result in shorter bans.

You should understand that if you plead ‘Not Guilty’ at first and change your plea to ‘Guilty’ later you will most probably be sentenced more harshly than if you had pleaded ‘Guilty’ at the outset.

Can I Plead Not Guilty to Drink Driving?

Yes, of course, you can. We pride ourselves on our skill in defending cases in court and would be pleased to represent you. But it is important to note that even though a motorist may want to plead ‘Not Guilty,’ if the evidence of guilt is strong fighting a case may not be in his or her best interests. Sometimes contesting a case where the defence is weak will only serve to increase legal fees and court costs as well as the severity of the penalty which follows upon conviction.

How we work

At Kent Traffic Law we only give advice which is in the best interests of the Defendant. Once a client has received expert advice and made up his or her mind as to how to plead we then act upon those instructions and seek to obtain the best possible result.

The law surrounding drink-drive related offences is complex. Every case has unique factors meaning that the outcome, whether you are pleading ‘Guilty’ or ‘Not Guilty’, cannot be predetermined. If you want us to help you make the most of your case don’t hesitate to contact us straight away.