Walker Law Ltd provides a free initial consultation service, so that you are able to speak to one of our expert motoring lawyers immediately. They will be able to put the offence into context for you and explain how the case is likely to progress.

Please call 0134430 0193 to arrange a face to face meeting or telephone consultation.

We successfully represent clients facing charges including the following:

• Drink Driving
• Drug Driving
• Dangerous Driving
• Careless Driving
• Death by Careless/Dangerous Driving
• Mobile Phone Offences
• Failing to Provide
• No Insurance

Motoring case law is wide and varied. The law has evolved as solicitors and barristers have searched for the chinks in the prosecution case. The whole array of offences, defences and sentences cannot be succinctly summed up, but the themes below are some of the most common enquiries we receive:

These types of offences can be committed without any malice or intent. A simple miscalculation the morning after a celebration can mean that you risk losing your licence. At Walker Law we will do everything within out power to examine the evidence against you.

Where applicable we will examine the Crown’s case to ensure that every procedure was properly conducted. We can request the forms used by the police when completing the drink drive procedure as well as the CCTV footage.

We will scrutinise each point to prove in the Crown’s case and advise you accordingly.

If, having exhausted all lines of enquiry, the evidence against you remains overwhelming then we will represent you at your sentencing hearing and ensure the period of disqualification is as short as possible and any punitive element of the sentence is at its most lenient.

If you accumulate 12 penalty points or more within a three year period you can be summonsed to appear before the Magistrates’ Court. The Court’s default position will be to impose a disqualification for a minimum period of 6 months. This is commonly known as a “totting up” disqualification. (The rules for new drivers are different and “totting” occurs at the accumulation of 6 points).

If you find yourself in this position you can make an application to the court not to disqualify you on the grounds that you, or others associated with you, would suffer “exceptional hardship”. Examples include:

• You risk loss of employment
• You risk losing your home
• You suffer with a disability and any driving disqualification would disproportionately affect you
• Your loss of licence would remove your ability to care for another
• Your loss of licence would put others employment at risk
• Your loss of licence would affect the wider community – for example your ability to carry out charity work

Courts will rigorously examine your application for exceptional hardship and your claims can be challenged. It is vital to prepare fully for the hearing and to ensure that any application is well prepared, professionally presented and supported with evidence.

There are circumstances where you may be able to persuade the court that there are “special reasons” why the Court should not impose penalty points or disqualify you from driving. The definition of specials reasons is narrow and they must:

1. be a mitigating or extenuating circumstance;
2. not amount in law to a defence to the charge;
3. be directly connected with the commission of the offence; and
4. be one which the court ought properly to take into consideration when imposing sentence

If these criteria are satisfied and the Court finds in your favour then it allows that Court to exercise a discretion not to endorse a licence with penalty points, to not to disqualify, or to disqualify for a much shorter period than might otherwise be expected.
As shown above with the “totting” provisions, avoiding penalty points can prevent you from a period of disqualification.
There is no exhaustive list of special reasons and Walker Law Ltd will look at each case on its facts and advise you further. Common special reasons that have been successful in the past include:

• The shortness of distance driven
• That your drink was spiked/laced
• That your drink was stronger than you had ordered
• That you drove having being told by someone you trust that you were insured
• That you only drove due to a genuine emergency

The hearing will require you to present your case with supporting evidence. You will likely have to give evidence under oath yourself and you may wish to call witnesses to do the same on your behalf. Walker Law Ltd will ensure your case is prepared thoroughly and give you the best possible chance of success.

The following is fee guidance for advice and representation at the Magistrates Court in relation to summary only (cases that can only be dealt with in the Magistrates’ Court) road traffic offences, dealt with at a single hearing:

This could include advice and representation at a plea and sentencing hearing for driving with excess alcohol, being in charge of a motor vehicle with excess alcohol, drug driving, careless driving etc.

The cost of representation for these offences, where only a single court appearance is required, is £500 (+VAT) for Slough, Reading, Basingstoke, Oxford and High Wycombe Magistrates’ Courts. Fees for attendance at other courts would vary depending on the location of the court.

If there are further hearings, or if the allegation is contested and requires a trial, please contact our specialist team to discuss the fees in more detail.