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Drug Driving Offence Solicitors

If you are found guilty of a drug driving offence, you are likely to be disqualified from driving for a substantial period of time.

Seeking legal advice from specialist drug driving offence solicitors as soon as possible, is vital if you are accused of drug driving. This way, your solicitor can work with you from the start to defend your case.

Understanding sentences

If you are convicted of driving or attempting to drive with a concentration of a controlled drug in your body above the specified limit, the maximum sentence is an unlimited fine and/or 6 months in prison. You will also receive a driving qualification of at least 12 months.

Experience and expertise

Drug driving offence solicitors have the necessary experience and expertise to advise and defend you, if you are accused of a drug driving offence.

What is the law surrounding a drug driving offence?

In the past, a police officer could determine whether or not there was evidence of a drug driving offence. For example, after stopping a vehicle, the police officer could detect if the driver was under the influence of a drug such as cannabis, just because of the distinct smell coming from the driver. Likewise, if a driver’s pupils were dilated, this may give the police officer grounds to suspect a drug driving offence was taking place.

Although subjective, these signs (and others) would provide the police with reasonable grounds to arrest the driver.

This all changed on 2 March 2015, when the new section 5A of the Road Traffic Act 1988, inserted by the Crime and Courts Act 2013, came into force. This made it an offence to drive, attempt to drive, or be in charge of a motor vehicle with an amount of a controlled drug in the body above the specified limit.

Drug driving: how much is the limit?

The limits of the concentration of a drug in the body have been deliberately set very low. This means that having only an extremely small concentration of a drug in your body could put you at risk of being disqualified from driving for a substantial period of time.

As different drugs are metabolised at different rates, accidentally being over the specified limit of a particular controlled drug, without realising, is very possible.

Smoking one joint of cannabis the evening before driving, for example, could result in you committing a drug driving offence.

What is a ‘controlled drug’?

There are 17 different controlled drugs which it is an offence to drive, attempt to drive, or be in charge of a motor vehicle, when there is above the specified limit of the controlled drug in the body.

These 17 drugs include both drugs that can be medically prescribed and illegal drugs.

There is a ‘zero-tolerance’ approach when it comes to the limits for the illegal drugs. For the drugs that can be medically prescribed, the limits are set having regard to a road safety risk-based approach.

Anyone taking prescription medication should talk to a healthcare professional about the drug’s possible effect on their ability to drive. Otherwise, they could unwittingly find themselves the subject of a drug driving offence.

Which court deals with drug driving?

The drug driving offence of driving, attempting to drive, or being in charge of a motor vehicle with an amount of a controlled drug in the body above the specified limit, is triable summarily only.

This means that it is dealt with in the magistrates’ court.

What is the sentence for a drug driving offence?

The Sentencing Council has produced guidance to assist sentencers when dealing with drug driving offences. While sentencers do not have to follow this guidance, it is useful to get an idea of what sentence you could be expecting if you are convicted of a drug driving offence.

If you are convicted of driving or attempting to drive with a concentration of a controlled drug in your body above the specified limit, the maximum sentence is an unlimited fine and/or 6 months in prison.

You will also receive a driving qualification of at least 12 months.

If you have had two or more disqualifications lasting 56 days or more, in the 3 years preceding this offence, you can be disqualified from driving for at least 2 years.

In its guidance, the Sentencing Council advises that where someone is convicted of driving or attempting to drive with a concentration of a controlled drug in their body above the specified limit, and there are no characteristics which increase seriousness, the court should consider a Band C fine and a driving disqualification of around 12-22 months as a starting point.

If there is evidence of one or more factors which increase the seriousness of the offence, then a community order and a driving disqualification of around 23-28 months may be more appropriate.

In order for a prison sentence to be considered, there should normally be evidence of one or more factors which increase seriousness, plus one or more aggravating factors. In this case, the court could also disqualify the offender from driving for around 29-36 months

If you are convicted of being in charge of a motor vehicle with a concentration of a controlled drug in your body above the specified limit, the maximum sentence is a Level 4 fine and/or 3 months in prison.

In this case, the court can either decide to disqualify the offender from driving for a certain period of time or, if not, impose 10 penalty points on the offender’s driving licence.

If there are no factors which increase seriousness, the court could consider a starting point of a Band B fine and 10 penalty points.

If there are one or more factors present which increase seriousness and one or more aggravating factors, the offender could receive a community order and a disqualification from driving.

Where one or more factors that increase seriousness are present, plus more aggravating factors, a prison sentence of up to 3 months may be considered, as well as a driving disqualification.

Which factors increase seriousness for a drug driving offence?

Factors which increase seriousness include:

  • Driving or being in charge of an HGV, LGV or PSV
  • Evidence of another specified controlled drug (or alcohol) in the offender’s body
  • Driving or being in charge of a hire vehicle
  • Evidence of an “unacceptable standard of driving”

What are the aggravating factors for a drug driving offence?

Aggravating factors (which can increase a sentence) include:

  • Where the offence took place (near a school, for example)
  • If the vehicle had passengers
  • There were lots of pedestrians in the area
  • The weather conditions were poor

What are the mitigating factors for a drug driving offence?

Mitigating factors (which can reduce a sentence) include:

  • The offender has a learning disability or mental disorder
  • The offender only drove for a very short distance
  • There was a genuine emergency
  • The offender has no previous convictions

Why do I need specialist drug driving offence solicitors?

Drug driving offence solicitors have the necessary experience and expertise to advise and defend you, if you are accused of a drug driving offence.

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