Drunk in Charge
Drunk in charge of a vehicle is one of the most difficult offences to disprove. You do not have to be driving to be guilty of this office. If you are sat in the driver's seat, or in possession of the car keys, for whatever reason, whilst "over the limit" there is a presumption that you are "Drunk in Charge".
There are many technical as well as factual defences and even though disqualification is discretionary the 10 penalty points may well bring you within the "totting up" provisions for mandatory disqualification. We recommend seeking expert advice before going to Court. It will cost you but how much is your licence worth?
MAXIMUM PENALTY
Discretionary disqualification and 10 penalty points.
A defendant may argue that the blood alcohol test figures used by the police are incorrect or inadmissible, due to error in the administration of the test. Sometimes, for example, the testing device was not properly maintained (or the maintenance records are wrong), or the officer who administered the test is not properly trained. Sometimes the police will violate their own procedures when something goes wrong during testing - such as failing to observe the suspect for the appropriate time before administering the test, or failing to call a supervisor in response to an error message, despite a policy to do so. Failure to give proper "chemical test rights" warnings may also result in the exclusion of the test results. Also, it may be argued that certain medical conditions or medications inflated the test results.