‘Laced Drinks’ Defence to Drink-Drive
Following success yesterday in a drink-driving case, where I managed to argue ‘special reasons’ and assist a client to avoid an obligatory disqualification from driving, it would be tempting to over-inflate the success in promotion of my practice. The smart and experienced professional knows, however, that so much depends on…
Disqualified driving – ‘Totting up’
If you have been driving for under two years, and you are caught speeding, your licence will be endorsed with a minimum of three points. If this happens again, and the points add up to six, you will lose your license and have to retake your driving test to regain…
Drink Drive Law – Public Place
I recently appeared at Worthing Magistrates Court on behalf of a client accused of a drink/driving offence. The legal limit for driving while intoxicated through drink is 35 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, with a 5-point margin of error; at 40, a conviction follows. A high reading…
Dangerous Dogs
Recently I was invited to take a case involving a charge of ‘keeping a dog dangerously out of control’ under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 at Guildford Magistrates’ Court. On the face of it, the evidence was overwhelming, and the dogs looked set to be destroyed! According to the prosecution…
Buyer beware, but seller be on guard!
There was an interesting case in the Gloucester Crown Court where an ex police officer pleaded guilty to fraud. The circumstances were somewhat surprising in that it surrounded the sale of horses, and ordinarily would not have ended up in the criminal courts. According to the judge, there had been…
Drug Driving And Medical Advice
Medical evidence and ‘drug driving’ under the new law coming into force in March 2015 The Drug Review of drink and drug driving law by Sir Peter North confirmed that there is a significant drug driving problem in Great Britain. Currently, police have to show that drugs have impaired a…
Drug Driving
‘Drug Driving’ This is one of a series of blogs in relation to a statutory instrument that comes into force on 2nd March 2015, entitled Drug Driving (Specified Limits) (England and Wales) Regulations 2014. It’s a fairly innocuous sounding piece of subordinate legislation, but I am sure it is going…
Drunk Driving; New Developments
Driving under the influence of drugs is an offence under the Road Traffic Act, with similar penalties to drink driving. However, there are no defined limits or levels of drugs, in the same way as drink in drink driving. That is set to change soon, on 2nd March 2015, in…
Bribery Act
The spectre of the Bribery Act casts its long shadow over the business landscape, with the news that oil company agents allegedly paid bribes to officials. The company in the firing line was exploring opportunities and feasibility studies, and attracted the attention of undercover investigators who filmed the alleged bribes….
Corporate Manslaughter
Corporate Manslaughter is a relatively new offence to come in to effect under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 which came in to force in April 2008. There have now been several cases and it is certainly something that business owners and directors should be acutely aware of,…