fitzscoob

OK found out this morning that one of my mates was arrested last night for drink driving.

Now we all know this is stupid etc, hes spent last night in the nick and was let out this morning.

It turns out he was twice over the limit, so theres no doubt here.

Now the reason why he drove is as follows, im just wondering if the judge would take this into consideration when banning him etc?

last night my friends two older brothers fell out and the older one proceeded to bash the living **** out of the younger one in the pub, the younger one ran off and the older gave chase, my mate went after them in his car (silly tosser) to stop the older one from doing any more damage. He cought up with the younger one and got him in the car, the police caught him when he parked up - the younger one in the passenger seat was badly beaten etc, my mate didnt try to leggit or lie to the police who arrested him.

All im wondering is if this will get taken into consideration, i feel sorry for my mate who tried to do the right thing in a really dumb way. He got caught drink driving, deserves whats coming to him no doubt, just wondering really, any ideas?

Sbradley

He needs a brief, for sure.

Personally I can sympathise with him but as you said it was daft.

I suspect much will depend on the attitude of the beak on the day. But good luck to him, despite my normal contempt for anyone who drinks and drives. I hope he's lucky...

SB

fitzscoob

yeah, no ones impresed with what hes done, he knows hes a complete idiot etc but i do feel sorry for him.

mj

seems to me the booze helped him take leave of his senses,there was a very emotional situation going on, and at the time he did what he had to do.


hope it works out for him anyway.

good stuff beer, innit

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

Get his brothers to stand up in court for him. Police involved re assault? Any other witness like that?

Get a brief

ajm

Yeah good luck to him. At the end of the day twice over sounds bad but in reality thats only a couple of pints over, its not like he was completely legless, and the circumstances are definately extenuating. He broke the law to protect someone - lets hope he gets a fair judgement.

elgordano

There is NO excuse for drink driving. He deserves everything he gets.

fitzscoob

we all know that, that was never the issue, thank you for posting

ajm

Yes, and lets hope that "what he gets" is a fair sentancing.

Out of interest, what would he deserve if he had sat there and let one of his brothers get beaten half to death and the other one go down for GBH? A pat on the back for leaving his keys behind the bar.

If only things were so clear cut.

elgordano

What if he had killed someone whilst DUI ??

There is NO excuse for drink driving......period.

MooseRacer

TBH I doubt it will get taken into consideration. Yes he was trying to do the right thing, but in this case the right thing would have been to go after them on foot - or (as the judge will no doubt view it) call the police.

Twcie the limit he shouldn't have been on the road and I think the judge will see it as plainly as that.

imlach

Yes, I guess the judge will ask why your mate did not run after them too?

The two were on foot.....so why did he need his car?

I'm presuming he didn't go after them immediately?

ajm

I suspect you are right, he will get banned for whatever is the usual. Lets just hope that his brothers sort out their differences, because they owe him lifts to the pub for the next few months!

p@ul

The judge might question why he drove to the pub in the first place knowing he was gonna be drinking and presume he was gonna drive home anyway?
or is that just a daft way of looking at it
i'll get me coat

fitzscoob

im still waiting to speak with them again, seems that the brothers arnt speaking, he will get a ban and rightly so.

i just hope his brothers will appreciate what he done for them.

Redkop

Was thinking same thing myself.

fitzscoob

its our local pub, we all grew up there if you like, its not unusual for anyone of us to drive there drink, and leave the car. I have done that many a time, albeit not when i have the scoob.

Redkop

Well surely most advisable thing to do would be to hand keys behind bar and then temptation to drive wouldn't be an issue?

fitzscoob

have to agree redkop, although this wont help him now.

all in all this is going to be an expensive learning curve for him. he was lucky that no one was injured or worse when he was driving. he should be thankfull for small mercies.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Indeed, unless you either: Don't trust the bar staff (we have great pubs round here- lovely area ) Or you intend picking the car up in the morning, keys are in the pub and the pub is shut (and the staff "lost" the spare keys the previous time ).

If only life were that easy

Still, with the case of drink driving. I think it will be seen as why didn't he run after them?

Were the police actually called? I'd presume so if it kicked off inside a pub. I suppose it could be argued that the police should have turned up before the situation got well out of hand. Obviously depends on the time scale of the incident.

If the decision to use the car was to take the person being beaten out of harms way, then it would be a valid excuse. However I doubt it would make any difference in court.

MattW

It's automatic 12 month ban anyway.

StickyMicky

did he take his car to the pub??

or did he run home from the pub to get his car??

bartmanuk

if he can convince the judge it was a life or death situation then you can get it taken into concideration,but thats his only chance.

BM

fitzscoob

he had his car at the pub, gonna try and speak with him anyway - see what else has happened. The police were not called, they just happened to be there when he parked up

hedgehog

He needs to be very careful here. Often what we would see as mitigating circumstances such as "i was exceeding the speed limit because my wife was having a baby and i needed to get to hospital" are viewed in exactly the opposite light by the courts. In such circumstances the court would often take the view that as there were other circumstances the driver wasn't fully in control of his actions and so was not fit to make judgements on safety etc.

In the case of your mate it is likely that such a view would be taken by the court and so his situation would be seen as making things worse rather than better.

I know it sounds mad but remember these judges live in big houses in nice areas, some get driven around, they attend nice lodge meetings with chaps who iron out any problems they have etc. They've never had their teeth kicked in on the street, their house broken into, their car stolen or got into any trouble that their mates down the lodge can't sort out for them.

So, what sounds like a reasonable excuse in the real world is just another reason for them to put the boot in. Your mate needs legal advice and he needs to face up to the fact that no matter how good his representation is he is going to lose his license.

Patriot

NO MITIGATION...immediate ban and if he was more than twice the legal limit he will have to pass a medical before he gets his license back as he will be classed as a high risk offender , he may be offered the opportunity to take a rehabilitation course of three days, which he will have to pay for, this would take a quarter of his ban away, but he must pass the medical to prove he has no long term drink habits. This involves blood tests and questions.

Martin

Jerome

There was a case a few years back were someone saved the life of a guy who had been stabbed and was bleeding to death. The ambulance was going to take too long to get there, and no-one was prepared to drive this guy to the hospital. A samaritan, who was over the limit, stepped up and drove the guy to hospital. He was breathalysed at the hospital and arrested etc.

When in court he still got banned, even though he undoubtedly saved this guys life. IIRC, the judge's take was he could have killed more people by driving over the limit than just the guy who bled to death.

Moral of the story, the courts deem there is never any excuse for drink driving.

ajm

That is nonsensical though. They surely can't punish people or ignore mitigating circumstances for what *could* have happened! I would break the law in a second if it would save someones life, especially if it was family!

turboman786

Patriot....medical exams..I think not.

turboman786

AJm ...NOT TRUE..there is a plethora of case law where the courts have not banned in cases where 'special reasons' in the legal sense exist.

Fitzscoob YHM