An evidential breath test is the most common form of sample required of a suspect in drink driving allegations. There are three types of breath test devices approved by the Home Office for use by the police for this purpose.
These devices are known as:
- The Lion Intoxilyzer 6000 UK
- The Camic Datamaster
- The Intoximeter EC/IR.
A drink driving suspect who is brought into police custody will be required to provide two samples of breath on the evidential machine. The device will then produce a printout, which is a record of the suspect’s use of the instrument. The printout will show the two breath specimen readings. The lowest reading out of the two provided being taken into account for charging. If a defendant blows below 39µg, the police have a discretion and will normally take no further action.
However, if a suspect blows 40 or above, they will subsequently be charged and bailed to attend court to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty.
The machine printout in a drink driving case is one of the most important pieces of evidence for the prosecution. Without the printout being entered into evidence you should not be convicted of a drink driving offence. What is sometimes overlooked is the fact that the three machines used for breath samples can produce “error messages”. These are a set of pre-programmed responses which dictate if there is an error with the test or sample provided. In such circumstances the police will have to either request a new sample of breath, or move on to requiring a sample of blood or urine.
In recent years Geoffrey Miller Solicitors have had a number of cases in which one of these pre-programmed errors have been noted on the printout following a police charge. Whilst on the face of it, the prosecution should simply withdraw the charges against the defendant, this is not always the case. How the issue is raised is incredibly important, as it is possible for the prosecution to attempt to lay or amend the charge to one of being unfit through drink or drugs.
If you are currently facing a drink driving allegation and you notice there is an error message on your printout, or you were not provided with or offered your printout but believe an error has occurred, we urge you to contact us so we can discuss your case and the best path forward.
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