STEP ONE – GENERAL DEFENCES

We will assess your case to see if any of the following general defences apply.

Private land

If the vehicle is on a private road or car park you will have a defence as the law requires the vehicle is in a public place for the offence to be committed. Some car parks have restrictions for example patrons only or there may be private land signage or the road may be used too infrequently by the public for example remote council owned tracks or cul-de-sacs. In one case decided by the Courts, a university campus was held to be private land when used outside of normal hours. 

Post driving drug misuse

If drugs are misused after driving the vehicle we can calculate what your level would have been without the post driving substance. You will have a defence if the calculations show your level is below the specified limit. The prosecution may offer no evidence with a favourable scientists report

Medical defence

A patient will have the medical defence if the drug was prescribed for medical or dental purposes and taken in accordance with advice given by the person who prescribed or supplied the drug, and written instructions.

Duress of circumstances

Where the driver fears life or serious harm to themselves or someone else this is a defence which may avoid disqualification and a criminal record. In other cases of emergency this may amount to special reasons to avoid a ban (see special reasons).

Evidence of driving

Being found inside the vehicle or near the vehicle may amount to evidence of in charge above the specified limit (which usually carries 10 points) but not drug driving. Sometimes the only evidence of driving will be verbal exchanges with the police which may not be used as evidence against you if you have not been cautioned. Even with admissions in interview at the police station we can apply to the court to exclude this evidence and argue there is no case to answer where the police fail to explain your right to speak to a solicitor by phone when a face to face has been declined.

 If these legal defences do not apply or are not successful we can still attempt to avoid a ban by challenging police station procedure.

STEP TWO – POLICE STATION PROCEDURE

We can view the video footage from the arrest, booking in and specimen procedure to assess whether there are serious and substantial mistakes in police procedure.

In this situation the court has the power to exclude the crown’s case, resulting in dismissal of the charges.

These are just a few examples, many of which have been used successfully to avoid bans for clients of this firm.

• Where the officer fails to complete the blood specimen booklets MG DD/B at the police station or MG DD/C at the hospital this may invalidate the whole process.
• If you are not medically fit to consent at the hospital the police may not test the sample without first requesting permission following your discharge from hospital.
• The police must demonstrate they can account for the whereabouts of the blood sample at every stage of the testing process and that the sample not been tampered with. This is called ‘continuity’. Charges have been dismissed where the packaging is damaged when received by the laboratory, labels have been wrongly completed, serial numbers do not match or the officer has not completed the blood specimen booklet properly.
• The charges may be dismissed if the police fail to enquire about medical problems preventing you from providing blood, or fail to refer any medical reasons to a doctor before deciding whether to continue with the blood specimen procedure.
• Failing to take no further action where you have a needle phobia.
• The doctor fails to shake the container for 30 seconds after taking the sample as required by guidance.
• If you are not provided with your own blood sample, or not told how to store the sample, or you are discouraged from taking your blood sample away with you or having it tested, this may result in a defence to the charges.
• If you have been given a blood sample we can have this tested using one of our approved independent labs. Cases have been dismissed because the blood level was borderline within the margin of error. 
• The courts have ruled if you are not told you will be prosecuted for failing to comply with the blood specimen procedure the police must not continue with the case against you. This is called the ‘statutory warning’.
• The police must arrange an assessment by a police doctor where you have sustained injuries to determine your fitness for interview.
• The police must take a blood sample at the hospital if you are not medically fit to be detained after sustaining injuries.
• You must be medically and mentally fit for the blood specimen procedure. If you are in shock or in pain and this prevents you from understanding your legal rights we may apply for dismissal of the charges with a favourable medical report.
• The courts have ruled the police must arrange a translator where the suspect has limited English for example difficulty with long or technical words.

R v MH – Wimbledon MC. The client was prosecuted for driving above the specified limit in cannabis. The issues in the case were continuity and reliability of the blood sample as the container was not shaken for 30 seconds. Neil Blackaby (reviewing lawyer) raised disclosure issues throughout the case including non service of the unused material. After rejecting the SFR2 (level 2 forensic report), the statement from the health care professional and opposing an application for the analyst to give evidence by live link the prosecution discontinued the charges before trial.

R v MS – Basildon MC. The client was prosecuted for driving above the specified limit in cannabis. The issues in the case were the failure by police to notify the client how to have the sample independently tested and ask if there were medical reasons why blood should not be taken. There were also continuity issues as to the storage of the sample and the SFR1 (level 1 forensic report) had no name for the scientist who carried out the analysis. The case was discontinued before trial after written representations by Sandra Cooper (reviewing lawyer) that as the datapack had not been served the prosecution had failed to comply with criminal procedure rules.

STEP THREE – LEGALITY OF ARREST AND POLICE CONDUCT

The court has the power to exclude the crown’s case as a result of unlawful arrest or from the conduct of the arresting officers.

Here are some examples

• Excessive force or intimidation. A number of clients have had charges dismissed due to intimidation, disproportionate force and the inappropriate use of strip searches and taser guns.
• Using handcuffs without justification is by definition an assault under ACPO guidelines
• The police officers may make false claims as to the reason for stopping your vehicle. This may amount to bad faith resulting in discontinuance of the charges as the credibililty of police witnesses must be taken into account by the CPS under the code for prosecutions.
• False claims by the police officers that they had your permission to enter your property which is proven not to be the case by body cam footage may result in discontinuance due to bad faith.
• Insulting or inappropriate behaviour can result in the case being dismissed. A case against one of our clients was dropped due to inapproptiate and unwanted attention by an officer.
• The police are required by force policy to arrange hospital assessment where your airbags deploy after a collision.

STEP FOUR – NON DISCLOSURE

 A high proportion of successful cases are achieved where it is not possible to have a fair trial because the police fail to provide the SFR/2 (streamlined forensic report) or video footage or documentation to comply with their disclosure duties.

The courts have ruled the crown’s case may be excluded in its entirety in this situation. 

If we are unable to prepare your case due to the prosecution failing to supply evidence you are entitled to an acquittal.

Here are some examples

 R v HD – Stratford MC. The client was charged with driving above the specified limit in cannabis. Sandra Cooper (reviewing lawyer) made written representations to the prosecution for the case to be reviewed as the police had failed to serve an SFR2 (level 2 forensic report), full analytical data pack and HORT/5 (statement of nurse taking the blood sample). The prosecution was persuaded to discontinue the charge before trial.

R v RJ – North Tyneside MC. There was no interpreter at the police station. Case dropped before trial due to the prosecution failing to comply with the duty to serve unused material.

R v MA – Camberwell Green MC. Client had not consumed sufficient alcohol to exceed prescribed limit. Case dropped before trial after the prosecution failed to serve the CCTV from the breath test room.

STEP FIVE – DISCONTINUANCE

In some cases we can persuade the CPS to drop charges saving you the expense and worry of having to attend Court. Here are some example cases dealt with by the firm

R v ZU – Manchester and Salford MC. The client was charged for driving above the specified limit in cannabis. The nurse had taken a blood sample despite pain and discomfort caused from abortive attempts to find a vein. It was submitted there were medical reasons for abandoning the specimen procedure and the continuity of the chain of custody in relation to the blood sample was in dispute. Laura Heywood (reviewing lawyer) persuaded the prosecution to discontinue the charges after they failed to provide the SFR2 (level 2 forensic report) and data pack for the use of the defence expert.

R v MH – Wimbledon MC. The client was prosecuted for driving above the specified limit in cannabis. The issues in the case were continuity and reliability of the blood sample as the container was not shaken for 30 seconds. Neil Blackaby (reviewing lawyer) raised disclosure issues throughout the case including non service of the unused material. After rejecting the SFR2 (level 2 forensic report), the statement from the health care professional and opposing an application for the analyst to give evidence by live link the prosecution discontinued the charges before trial.

STEP SIX – PLEA BARGAIN

This can be a quick way of resolving the case at the first hearing without the need for a trial.

You have the option of offering a guilty plea to a less serious offence namely drunk in charge where the prosecution agree to drop the drink driving offence. This may result in 10 penalty points instead of an automatic driving ban.

Here are some examples.

R v JJ – Kings Lynn MC. The client was prosecuted for driving above the specified limit in cannabis. The issues in the case included whether there was sufficient evidence of driving. The client had given a confession after a false assurance by the officer that he would be dealt with as in charge not drug driving. Sneha Shrestha (Platinum lawyer) persuaded the prosecution to discontinue the driving allegation at the first hearing with 10 penalty points for being in charge instead of the mandatory ban for drug driving.

STEP SEVEN – SPECIAL REASONS

Special reasons may avoid a driving ban where no legal defence is available. In some cases even a criminal record may be avoided and your legal fees reimbursed where the court agrees to an absolute discharge.

Here are some examples

Emergencies

You may have believed at the time of driving you had no choice but to drive despite having misused drugs. Where this happens you may be able to argue “special reasons” as a way of avoiding a driving ban. The typical cases involve some kind of emergency. Cases have been upheld for medical reasons e.g. getting someone urgent medical treatment, to avoid threat of personal safety or that of others, and where clients have driven due to concern for missing children.

Short distance driven

The Courts can find special reasons to avoid a driving ban where you have driven a short distance so that there was no significant risk to other road users. 

Spiked/ laced drinks

If someone added an illegal substance to your drink we may argue special reasons against a ban on your behalf. Alternatively passive smoking may amount to special reasons in some circumstances.