“We have a strange convention of innocent until proved guilty.

However

Cases shouldn't take so long to get to court and once at court they should be progressed a lot faster than they are. People brought before the courts at the moment are having their cases scheduled for June and July. It could move faster - look at the rioters and how quickly they were dealt with.”

“Imagine
Drink driving is different though. You get arrested and then get tested on a calibrated intoximeter, therefore unless the defendant wants to throw doubt on the validity of the test, guilt is already established and they only go to court for sentencing.
I say this as I know of a case which will soon shock people when it finally hits the press.”

“I understand your sentiment but me have a clear legal process which grants all that are charged with an offence the right for trail by their equals, this is at the very bases of UK law as drawn out in the Magna Carter;

No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.

Magna Carter 1215”

“Apologies for the typo should read, "I understand your sentiment but we.........", well it is five AM time for a coffee me thinks;-)”

“harry

Yes but I am sure that some people plead not guilty in court.

As for being judged by his equals, there isn't a jury in a Magistrates' Court which is where most drink driving offences are dealt with.

Also, plenty of people are imprisoned BEFORE their trial - it's called being held on remand. Some are held on remand for months before they go to court and sometimes they have spent so long being (imprisoned) on remand that when they are sentenced, they have already done their time behind bars and are released straight away.

This is also wrong because remand prisoners have more rights than convicted prisoners (more visits and they can refuse work/education without fear of reprisals for example) so they have an easier time behind bars.

Incidentially, remand prisoners also have the right to vote but I doubt that any of them do.”

“Not sure who "Magna Carter" is. Maybe he is one of those who embellished the "Magna Carta".”

“GlenluieJim, I believe he was involved somehow in the film Get Carter, that's what I get for posting at five AM lol;-)”

“GlenluieJim, I believe he was involved somehow in the film Get Carter, that's what I get for posting at five AM lol;-)”

“If a teacher was accused of having inappropriate contact with a pupil, they would be prevented from teaching until a court decided upon innocence or guilt, thus preventing any child coming to harm.
If someone drives a car recklessly or under the influence they can continue to put people's lives at risk for months, how is this right?
I wonder how many people would be alive today if the police had such powers?
Harry I do agree with you, I also feel it may be a stronger deterrent for people that abuse their driving licences.”

“Totally agree Harry. Another thing that really annoys me is when these drivers get a disqualification that runs alongside their prison sentence. Surely it would be more of a deterent if a ban started on release.
I don`t think many prisoners are allowed to drive anyway.”

“Flossy

The ban starts after they are released.

http://tinyurl.com/7ane6oo

http://tinyurl.com/86seysn

However there are plenty of solicitors out there saying that they can avoid a drunk driver being banned

"There are numerous defence and mitigation strategies we can successfully apply to drink driving charges and we would always recommend you speak to us before making any decisions about what to do next"


"Even if you think you are guilty of the drink driving offence, it is very likely there will be a valid and lawful defence to your drink driving charge. If you have mistakenly assumed that your only option is to plead guilty to a drink driving charge, and accept the mandatory driving ban that applies, please get in touch so that we can guide you through your options free of charge"

from http://tinyurl.com/7aso9xu”

“Imagine_that,
Thanks for that, I missed it ( probably because I rely on BBC news doh). The defence lawyers take the biscuit though don`t they? It`s hardly worth being lawabiding if they can get you off almost anything.”

“Yes they are awful aren't they? I don't know how they sleep at night.

Remember how that Jimmy Carr got away with talking on his mobile while driving because his soliciter claimed he was using it as a dictaphone, which isn't against the law!

Shows though how a positive breath test doesn't mean that the driver will lose their licence.”

“Drink drivers should have their licence taken away,and they should have to retake their driving test, as should people who loose their licence through speeding and dangerous driving”

“The reason I started the thread is I know of a case that when it comes to court will possibly be a record for drink driving. I've googled drink driving amounts in the UK, and can find nothing as bad as this one.
The person concerned is still allowed to drive in the meantime and this is not their first offence for this crime.
On a slightly different matter, the case of the crash in yesterdays HDM ( which we were not allowed to comment) has a lot more info to come out yet.”

“mike

I would be happy if people had to take tests every so many years - especially after a certain age.

An old man in his 80s used to bring his dog to East Park in his car for a walk and his eye sight was so bad that one day I stopped him trying to load my dog into his car because he thought it was his. And they looked nothing at all like each other apart from they were about the same size.

I saw him on the bus a while ago and he said he'd lost his licence after he'd had an accident. Luckily no one was killed or injured.”

“They should also have their cars seized and destroyed.”