Blog post by Jeanette Miller
Following an arrest or charge for an alcohol or drug related charge many feel that their life has fallen apart. The level of disruption a conviction could cause is often life changing and when people first get in touch they usually have no idea how they will cope if the worst were to happen. There are usually two options available:
Guilty Plea
We often help clients who wish to plead guilty to the offence present arguments to the court in mitigation to minimise the penalty they face. For most alcohol and drug related offences the minimum penalty is a 12 month disqualification and so even with strong mitigation, we cannot argue that a client should receive penalty points or a higher fine instead of a ban.
However, please note that our drink driving solicitors have NEVER in the history of the firm, had a client sent to prison for a drink driving offence on its own when they pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. Even when a client was being prosecuted for a repeat offence.**
Defending a Charge
To many clients the prospect of a ban or having a criminal record are the primary sources of concern. We are also know for our significant success rates in defending drink driving, drug driving and fail to provide cases. To assist prospective clients in their decision making process about the way in which they proceed, we regularly compile and publish statistics that reflect our claim as the country’s premier firm to specialise in motoring law. As at 30 June 2016 we have seen 70 cases through to conclusion and have achieved a NOT GUILTY verdict in 67 of these making 2016 our most successful year so far in the history of the firm.
| 2016 Successes (as at 30 June 2016) | Number of cases won | Number of cases lost | 2016 Success Rate % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excess Alcohol – Breath Sample | 38 | 3 | 93% |
| Excess Alcohol/Drug – Blood Sample | 16 | 0 | 100% |
| Excess Alcohol – Urine Sample | 2 | 0 | 100% |
| Fail to Provide a Specimen | 11 | 0 | 100% |
| Total Alcohol cases trial success rate (*figures include successful appeals and exclude cases lost that are the subject of appeal as at 30 June 2016) | 67 | 3 | 96% |
For those clients who are nervous about the prospect of attending court and giving evidence at their trial, we have further analysed the data about the stage at which our cases were won this year. 97% of our winning cases were dismissed without our client giving evidence at all.
How cases were won up to 30 June 2016:
| Offence | Discontinued Before Trial | Withdrawn on the day of Trial | Acquittal half way | Acquittal after Full trial | Total Number of cases won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excess Alcohol – Breath specimen | 3 | 30 | 4 | 1 | 38 |
| Excess Alcohol/Drug – Blood specimen | 2 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 16 |
| Excess Alcohol – Urine specimen | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Failing to Provide a Specimen | 0 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| Total cases | 6 | 53 | 6 | 2 | 67 |
| Percentage of cases won | 9% | 79% | 9% | 3% |
We make it our business to achieve spectacular results for our clients. So much so, that we frequently hear feedback that our results seem “too good to be true!”
This is one of the reasons why, in addition to our compilation of data and statistics like these, we also have hundreds of clients who offer testimony to us published on our website. We also go one step further than this and have a unique interactive testimonial scheme so prospective clients can make contact with clients who have been through the process and come out the other side with their objectives achieved.
**This excludes cases involving other offences such as dangerous driving and disqualified driving and multiple repeat offences when committed whilst on bail. We have also had one case where a custodial penalty was imposed when a client changed their plea from Not Guilty to Guilty midway through the case in an exceptionally high reading case with multiple aggravating features.
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Call Geoffrey Miller Solicitors 24 hours 7 days a week
Geoffrey Miller Solicitors are specialists defending drivers nationwide for all types of driving offences. Call our team of expert driving offence solicitors for some free initial advice.
You can also book an appointment with Jeanette Miller a.k.a. Miss Justice using our online booking system. If Jeanette is unavailable for your preferred date and time you can book an appointment with a member of our legal team. Please have as much information about your enquiry before the call e.g. Date of Hearing, Paperwork etc.
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