Retrospective drink driving - not right surely?

Retrospective drink driving - not right surely?

Author
Discussion

agtlaw

6,740 posts

207 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
janesmith1950 said:
Balance of probabilities?
Yes, civil standard of proof applies to the defendant in a so-called ‘hip-flask’ case.

Not simply raising a reasonable doubt about the prosecution case.

Crackie

6,386 posts

243 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
garyhun said:
The Rookie said:
A bottle of wine is about 14 units, about the same as five pints of cider. Not very drink aware are you!

Bottle of wine is typically around 9 units. 75cl @ 12%.
Beat me to it.

agtlaw

6,740 posts

207 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
Steve H said:
Only if drink driving has become a civil matter wink
Civil standard of proof is applicable - it applies to the defendant.

Steve H

5,356 posts

196 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
So a defendant would have to have a stronger than usual defence in a case like this?

douglasb

299 posts

223 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
"It may harm your defence if you do not mention something that you later rely on in court" (or whatever the exact wording is).

Did he mention drinking the bottle of wine when he was arrested? If he's only mentioning it now I think he will struggle.

EazyDuz

2,013 posts

109 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
He needs a good lawyer and a statement in his defence from the sexy landlady.
If police didnt check the heat from the engine it will harm their claim as it is somewhat of an indicator of how long ago he had driven and got home.

silverfoxcc

7,709 posts

146 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
EazyDuz said:
RogerDodger said:
It's the drinking a glass with a random landlady that seems odd. Then having an argy.
Some people are sociable, you're not one of them
Sorry for laughing but i read the first bit without my glasses and i thought it said

Then having an orgy

Which put the other quote into context!

Cat

3,025 posts

270 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
Steve H said:
So a defendant would have to have a stronger than usual defence in a case like this?
If a defendant claims that they consumed alcohol after driving then the law states that the onus is on them to show to a civil standard (on the balance of probability i.e. it was more likely than not) that they consumed it and that it is was that alcohol which caused them to be over the limit.

Cat

Greendubber

13,243 posts

204 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
cmaguire said:
More to the point, why would the prats (Police in this instance) even go there anyway? Their involvement is as regards an altercation, not what the guy may hypothetically have been doing prior to that.
Am I surprised though? Sadly, no.
Why are they prats?

Police go to arguments in houses all the time and guess what, no one gets a breath test unless someone else has said they have driven whilst drunk. If the other person in the house, who the argument was with has given an account saying the OPs mate was drunk when he got back then it's hardly the behaviour of a prat to deal with the drink drive?

Only prat would take this tale on face value to be honest....

Steve H

5,356 posts

196 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
Cat said:
If a defendant claims that they consumed alcohol after driving then the law states that the onus is on them to show to a civil standard (on the balance of probability i.e. it was more likely than not) that they consumed it and that it is was that alcohol which caused them to be over the limit.

Cat
Interesting stuff thanks smile

Hackney

Original Poster:

6,862 posts

209 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
pavarotti1980 said:
It seems like parts of the story is missing.
I’ve included what I know and thought pertinent.
Where in the timeline do you think something is missing and I’ll see if I can help

Hackney

Original Poster:

6,862 posts

209 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
The Rookie said:
A bottle of wine is about 14 units, about the same as five pints of cider. Not very drink aware are you!

No that is not a normal evening consumption, unless you are an alcoholic I’d expect an explanation as to why you consumed that much. Again though I did mention the missing timescale, was it an hour or 6 hours.....
I think someone else has shown toir calculation is slightly out. I can assure you that, as someone who doesn’t drink during the week, a bottle of Aldi’s finest is often polished off on a Friday or a Saturday night after the kids are in bed.

I’ll see if I can find out the total timeline as I don’t know it myself.

Greendubber

13,243 posts

204 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
Hackney said:
pavarotti1980 said:
It seems like parts of the story is missing.
I’ve included what I know and thought pertinent.
Where in the timeline do you think something is missing and I’ll see if I can help
Who was the argument with, his Mrs?

cmaguire

3,589 posts

110 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
Greendubber said:
cmaguire said:
More to the point, why would the prats (Police in this instance) even go there anyway? Their involvement is as regards an altercation, not what the guy may hypothetically have been doing prior to that.
Am I surprised though? Sadly, no.
Why are they prats?

Police go to arguments in houses all the time and guess what, no one gets a breath test unless someone else has said they have driven whilst drunk. If the other person in the house, who the argument was with has given an account saying the OPs mate was drunk when he got back then it's hardly the behaviour of a prat to deal with the drink drive?

Only prat would take this tale on face value to be honest....
Perhaps we should all assume the OP is a liar, then proceed to manipulate the scenario to suit our version of events, ignore the original post and base our responses on the 'real' version we have created that relies on the OP being guilty of something and hiding it. Welcome to the universe according to a) the Police, and b) TwoMany2CVs.
There should be an assumption of truth in the original post, much as there should be a presumption of innocence until guilt is proven.
Should be......

pavarotti1980

4,982 posts

85 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
Hackney said:
I’ve included what I know and thought pertinent.
Where in the timeline do you think something is missing and I’ll see if I can help
The story he has told you

Greendubber

13,243 posts

204 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
cmaguire said:
Greendubber said:
cmaguire said:
More to the point, why would the prats (Police in this instance) even go there anyway? Their involvement is as regards an altercation, not what the guy may hypothetically have been doing prior to that.
Am I surprised though? Sadly, no.
Why are they prats?

Police go to arguments in houses all the time and guess what, no one gets a breath test unless someone else has said they have driven whilst drunk. If the other person in the house, who the argument was with has given an account saying the OPs mate was drunk when he got back then it's hardly the behaviour of a prat to deal with the drink drive?

Only prat would take this tale on face value to be honest....
Perhaps we should all assume the OP is a liar, then proceed to manipulate the scenario to suit our version of events, ignore the original post and base our responses on the 'real' version we have created that relies on the OP being guilty of something and hiding it. Welcome to the universe according to a) the Police, and b) TwoMany2CVs.
There should be an assumption of truth in the original post, much as there should be a presumption of innocence until guilt is proven.
Should be......
Of course there could never be more to anything, ever could there?

The OPs mates story is full of holes, I'm not manipulating anything. I'm not saying the OP is lying, just that process, procedure and everything else tells me that theres clearly far more to this than is being let on.

It's better to have an open mind rather than just resorting to calling people prats when you don't have the whole picture.

cmaguire

3,589 posts

110 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
Greendubber said:
Of course there could never be more to anything, ever could there?

The OPs mates story is full of holes, I'm not manipulating anything. I'm not saying the OP is lying, just that process, procedure and everything else tells me that theres clearly far more to this than is being let on.

It's better to have an open mind rather than just resorting to calling people prats when you don't have the whole picture.
It would be nice if the 'stories' posted on here as OPs were always accurate, I find it as tiresome as you do when extra bits get subsequently drip-fed and entirely change the scenario. Those threads are a waste of everybody's time but, subject to some knowledge of a poster's previous input or no obvious indication of a complete farce, it is logical to take the OP at face value until such time as there is reason not to.
Otherwise this sub-forum might as well be shut down.

Greendubber

13,243 posts

204 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
cmaguire said:
Greendubber said:
Of course there could never be more to anything, ever could there?

The OPs mates story is full of holes, I'm not manipulating anything. I'm not saying the OP is lying, just that process, procedure and everything else tells me that theres clearly far more to this than is being let on.

It's better to have an open mind rather than just resorting to calling people prats when you don't have the whole picture.
It would be nice if the 'stories' posted on here as OPs were always accurate, I find it as tiresome as you do when extra bits get subsequently drip-fed and entirely change the scenario. Those threads are a waste of everybody's time but, subject to some knowledge of a poster's previous input or no obvious indication of a complete farce, it is logical to take the OP at face value until such time as there is reason not to.
Otherwise this sub-forum might as well be shut down.
The issue is when accounts posted on here don't match real life. The police go to people arguing in houses all the time and no one needs to be subject to a breath test. Clearly the OPs mate HAS been tested, the circumstances given lead me to think there's more to it than posted. That's based on doing the job and knowing the orocess.
That's why I pulled you up on calling the police prats when you have no real reason to do so.

Hackney

Original Poster:

6,862 posts

209 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
pavarotti1980 said:
Hackney said:
I’ve included what I know and thought pertinent.
Where in the timeline do you think something is missing and I’ll see if I can help
The story he has told you
Ok, you said parts are missing and I asked where, so I can ask specific questions.
So, "the story he has told you" doesn't quite make sense. Do you doubt the whole story? If so, then not much I can do.

If there's something specific I can try to find out.

Hackney

Original Poster:

6,862 posts

209 months

Wednesday 25th April 2018
quotequote all
Apologies for the gaps or questions that the original post has provoked.

The reason for the gaps is that this was told to me by a friend last week. The subject is actually a third friend of us both.
He's generally having a very bad time of things at the moment and the drink driving allegation actually happened some time ago. I haven't spoken to him directly about this but the three of us have known each other for 30 years. We don't see each other or talk all that frequently but we regularly meet up.

I know both of them very well and I trust them both. That isn't to say I can 100% guarentee the whole story, I am taking it on trust that what I've been told is true and not under or over exagerrated.

Some of the responses have been a help and I've passed them on as questions. On a side note he feels he's been let down by the police and his solicitor (who I believe should've been picking holes in this left right and centre), a family member who is also a solicitor (unknown speciality) has told him he could be looking at an 18month ban. However, i don't know what her knowledge of this kind of offence is. She may simply be stating that the going rate for a drink driving conviction is 18 months rather than getting into specifics of the case.

Thanks to those who have posted constructive questions, they may prove helpful.
If I find out more I will, but it's tough talking to the individual involved because of other things that are going on right now.