Cunninghams Solicitors » Careless Driving

Driving with Excess Alcohol, Driving Without Due Care and Attention, Resisting Arrest, Assaulting a Police Officer

admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:17:11 +0000

Tom recently represented Mr D before Redhill Magistrates Court, Surrey. Mr D was charged with offences of driving a motor vehicle with excess alcohol (75 in breath), driving without due care and attention, resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. Bearing in mind the relatively high reading and the fact that the allegation was that Mr D had assaulted a police officer in the execution of his duty, a short custodial sentence was a real possibility. Mr D only decided to plead guilty the evening before the trial and, as such, the credit the Court could afford to him for his guilty plea was somewhat diminished. Notwithstanding this and, hearing powerful mitigation put forward, the Magistrates imposed fines in respect of the assault matter and the excess alcohol matter. Tom was able to persuade the prosecution to drop the matters of resisting arrest and driving without due care and attention. Mr D even avoided any community based penalty.

Driving Without Due Care and Attention (Careless Driving)

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:37:05 +0000

Cunninghams recently acted for Mr R before Manchester City Magistrates Court in relation to various offences including driving without due care and attention (careless driving), driving a motor vehicle in a dangerous condition, driving with no licence and having defective tyres. This was a tragic case whereby an accident had occurred involving two cars. Mr R suffered serious damage to his vehicle and, sadly, a young child passenger in the other vehicle suffered serious injuries. Obviously, the allegation of driving without due care and attention was the most serious of the allegations and, if convicted, Mr R would inevitably have been disqualified from driving for a significant period. This would have had a drastic impact upon his life as he is a self employed painter and decorator. Cunninghams utilised the services of a road accident specialist who produced an experts’ report that was imperative to providing substantial evidence which cast doubt upon the prosecution evidence. Following legal arguments and the submission of the experts’ report, the Crown discontinued the serious allegation of driving without due care and attention and eventually accepted a plea to driving a motor vehicle with a defective tyre. The defendant was punished by way of a 3 point penalty endorsed on his licence.

Proceedings discontinued

admin — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:08:36 +0000

Mr J had been summonsed to South West Surrey Magistrates Court in relation to driving without due care and attention. This offence carries penalty points and discretionary disqualification. Prior to Mr J entering a plea, Tom wrote to the Crown Prosecution Service requesting that they discontinue the case as the prosecution was not in the “interest of justice”. Tom was successful in this. Notwithstanding the fact that Mr J, from Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire, had never appeared in Court, a defendants’ costs order was awarded entitling him to a full reimbursement of fees.