Drunk in control of a car
 

Just had one of my mates around the hosue earlier today in a right state, apparently last night he was out on the lash, his girlfriend picked him up, and one the way home she called into a pizza shop, left the car engine running, whilst he was listening to the radio and had the heaters on he says, a police car pulls up beside him, and asks him to wind his window down, he does, the officer asks if he has been drinking he said he replied i have sir, im really **** faced, the officer, leaves his car and then gives my mate a breath test he is over the limit but sitting in the passnager seat, the officer takes all his details and says he is reporting him for been drunk whilst in charge of a vechile, the copper aid because the engine was running he was in charge, he is arrested and released this morning, the police have told him they are sending the case to the cps, he will get a summons to appear in court in the post.

Can they do this, will he get banned to me it seems over the top, police state they have a zero tolerance to drink driving this time of year, he wasnt even in the drivers seat.

Sadly its likely he'll lose his license - it's a total joke!!

People have been done drink driving for crawling into the back of cars to go to sleep. This sort of case IMHO proves that cops just like an easy target. There is no real danger so move along and find someone that really IS drink driving or a mugger or the group of neds round the corner from the chippy jumping up and down on some poor buggers head. :mad:

I was shocked when told me, i have been in similar situations plenty of times, been out picked up, drivers get out, could happen to anyone really and after a few beers on the way home from a night out you dont expect it sitting in the passanger seat.

Any ideas on how long his ban will be or will it be the same a drink drive 12 month at least ?

i've seen a case in court where a guy slept in the back of his van after a drunken arguement with his missus and got done for drunk in charge because he had the keys on him !! not that night but the next morning , the coppers had to prove that he would have kept the keys on him rather than being in his shop till , he got 9 points !

Go to www.5ive-0. co.uk and ask one of the feds on their.
Cheers
Colin

So, lets look at an option here, you go out, get sh1t faced, get a taxi home, outside your house, the drivers gets out to open the door for you.... leaving the keys in the ignition.... copper pulls up whilst you're still sat in the BACK, and you get done for being drunk in charge.....EH??? can this be right...??? i think not!!!

Bl00dy daft......

Lets look at the facts though, what's easier to prove:

They breath test you so they have hard data to prove you were over the drink-drive limit. There are two cops to testify you were sitting in the car and the engine was running. Easy.

They happen across you jumping up and down on someone head with your mates. First of all they have to try and get you to stop doing that without turning on them. Then they have to identify who was doing what and its your word vs theirs. It's easier to just turn a blind eye and hope that the guy you are stomping on doesn't die as that would give them a headache for a few days pretending to catch a real criminal. This is hard.

Therefore they breath test the drunk in the passenger seat as opposed to going round the corner and preventing a serious assault :rolleyes:

I believe there was a case where a guy got banned from driving because he drove to the pub sober. Went inside got p1ssed. Decided to walk home, but as it was chilly, he got his coat out of the back seat of his car. As soon as the Police (sat doing fcukall else) saw him open the car and grab his jacket. Bam !!!! breath test, court appearance, Banned from driving.

All the guy wanted was his Jacket so he could walk home, and leave his car in the car park !!

Mad fcuking world, eh? Or is it just the fcuking Police again attacking the Car user in what ever way they can? :cuckoo:

Stilover I can assure you that if that had been me at that court appearance I'd also be getting charged for and pleading guilty to assault of two police officers - that is a F*CKING joke. Here the police are actually make a criminal out of someone taking sensible precautions :rolleyes: I seriously have less than zero respect for them.

:rolleyes:

Sorry Talizman but I have zero time for the policing and justice system in this country - you may roll your eyes but its chaos out on our streets and its not the speeders or people sleeping it off in their cars that are causing it. The proof in my argument is out your front door on our streets so :p to you.

if he was a premiership footballer nothing would of happened

There are two sides to every story SB and all of the hard-done-by cases we are hearing about, we are only getting the aggrieved party's side.

At the end of the day, if the circumstances constitute an offence then the circumstances are reported. If the PF or CPS disagree with the police's take on it then it can be binned, or alternatively tried fairly and given the opportunity to be defended.

On the whole I find your overall attitude somewhat sad and very cynical.

I assume you have loads of facts and experiences to back up your ridiculous comments about ignoring someone being potentially murdered cos its easier to do a drink driver??? :cuckoo:

My uncle was arrested and spent the night in the cells for fetching his briefcase from the car. The car was parked on the street outside his home, he had consumed a bottle of wine with his meal and then realised he hadn't brought his briefcase and coat in from the car.

He was found guilty of being in charge of a vehicle while drunk, he would have got banned but his solicitor claimed hardship due to my uncle having severe lung problems and being registered disabled.
He ended up with 6 points and a large fine.

Cheers
Lee

Thats got to be total bollo8ks,the feds cant do you for drink driving if your just getting your coat out of your car..:wonder:

What do you do for a living taz?

I bet they get a kick out of applying the law in that way. the law is at fault but the police are wankers. fact is you have to be a dickhead to want to do the job.

typical police taking the easy route, how about going and trying to solve the 90% of burgleries that go unsolved instead of hasseling people, the fact is he had obviously no intention of driving the car cos he was sat in passenger seat, yet they waste there time, they realy do make me sick, some of the police are top notch, but most police seem to becoming a bunch of wasters nowadays.

this prob isn't down to the individual officer but the ineptatude of the comanding officers to tackle the real problems of crime and society.


sorry rant over

outa order if u ask me

Historically, you can get done for putting the key in the lock and unlocking the door. You're still "in charge" of the car. I believe you don't actually have to enter the car and you can still get done.

I think that for cases where someone's not actually "proceeding" down the road, there needs to be a better solution that a ban.

J.

I've thought about this before, ive kipped in my car a few times when i have been pi$$ed up and nowhere else to go. The only solution i could think of at the time was to lock the key in the boot (before i started drinking) and only carry the key-fob thing arouind with me, that way i could get in the car when i was ready for a sleep but but not have the key to start it - not sure if it would stand up in a court of law.

BTW this was when i was like 18-19 years old.........aye many years ago :-)

Can't read this morning

Look for CCTV where the car was parked originally and outside the Pizza. You maybe able to obtain footage that your friend was not driving.

I was breathalised years ago at 4:30 am.
Was asleep in the back seat of my car in a deserted car park (thankfully hadnt been drinking) and they tapped on the window, and woke me up.
Inisisted it was an offence to be in the car drunk with the keys inside.
Said if I had left them outside- say on top of the wheel or something- then they wouldn't be able to prosecute.
:cuckoo:

I've told my 18 year old son time and again that if he goes partying not to drive home and if if he can't get a sofa for the night then to sleep in the back of the car. There is zero late might public transport around here and taxi fares are a joke. He has done this a few times and of course he will keep the keys on him. I'd be pretty hacked off if he was done for trying to be responsible.

Does anyone know if this can only happened if parked up on the public highway or would it apply in a private park?

I've quite often had a quiet bottle at home but gone out to get something from the car which I had forgotten. I guess I could be done for this in theory. Bad judgement by police if this did happen IMHO. dl

And what about peeps with motorcaravans who park up for the night and have a few sherberts before going to bed?

Please read my post earlier in the thread, I can assure you it's 100% genuine.
The charge isn't drink driving but being drunk in charge of a car.

Cheers
Lee

Hes probably a copper :D

My boss rode his scooter into Soho & parked it up. Went & got ratted, then went to go home by tube. Without keys in ignition and helmet on, he moved bike into a bike bay so that it wouldn't get a ticket in the morning. Got seen by a copper, stopped, breathalysed and banned - drunk in charge.

Might as well just drive the bloody car then if thats how we are going to be treated, not suggesting anyone actually drives while drunk but f*ck me thats mental, surely they should wait until the car is actually driven, dangerous I know but being in the passenger seat drunk is not a crime, makes you wonder about some coppers, I worked for them for ten years and found most to be very affable, self effacing, witty and intelligent, however there are those who join just to pull this kind of stunt, sad little men with no power who get some wnd wield it like a big stick.

Common sense on both sides need to be applied, the Police need to do a bit of PR if they wan support of the public and this is not the way to get it.

I must say I find all these stories very distressing. The whole point of justice is that what occurred should be measured in relation to the actual offence if there was one. There is a set of scales over the Old Bailey, representing the fact that a court should reach a verdict having weighed all the evidence, plus and minus.

These convictions as described seem like coppers taking advantage of a bad law in order to up their personal conviction rates and the courts moneygrubbing and rejoicing in the misuse of their power.

Les