Arrested for sitting in car drunk

Aretnap

iammumtoone wrote: »

By the sounds of this thread you could be done at any time.


My cars keys are in my house, what if I get drunk at home, I have the car keys with me it seems the police could randomly knock on doors on a fri/sat night and find lots of people at home over the drink drive limit but "in charge" of a car.

There arevarious reasons why that doesn't happen - not least because the offence can only be committed in a public place, which your home is not.

Aretnap

comeandgo wrote: »

What would happen if you were drunk in your motor Home? You are still in charge of a vehicle.

There's a defence if you can show that there was no likelihood that you would have actually driven while over the limit. This would be somewhat easier to establish if you were tucked up in bed for the night in your motor home than if you were precariously slumped over the steering wheel of your car. Plus you'd be less likely to attract the attention of the police in the first place. But yes in theory you could be prosecuted for being drunk in charge of a motor home, though I haven't heard of it actually happening.

Nearly_Old

ziggyboy4435 wrote: »

The police tapped his window at about midnight and arrested him for being in control of a car whilst over the drink limit , They done the alcohol test on the spot but did not do another one at the station ,

If this is correct then no evidential specimen has been taken and tested on a fully calibrated machine so no charges for being drunk in charge can be laid

Mercdriver

I think the OP's brother needs to take this himself to pepipoo and give a full account.

MsPisces

However may mean a charge for refusing to provide a specimen at the station

MsPisces

Also by the letter of the law even if the car battery was flat he could still push it and therefore 'drive' not that i'm saying it would be upheld in court but just playing devil's advocate

hollie.weimeraner

Nearly_Old wrote: »

If this is correct then no evidential specimen has been taken and tested on a fully calibrated machine so no charges for being drunk in charge can be laid

Unless he refused to provide when requested.

wymondham

If your brother had the keys to the car then its an offence.

TonyMMM

Nearly_Old wrote: »

If this is correct then no evidential specimen has been taken and tested on a fully calibrated machine so no charges for being drunk in charge can be laid

If the charge is being in charge whilst unfit through drink (i.e. drunk) under s4 RTA, then no evidential breath test is required. The officers can give evidence of him being drunk/impaired by describing slurred speech, difficulty standing, unable to walk in a straight line etc...

If the charge was being in charge whilst over the prescribed limit (but not necessarily drunk), which is s5 RTA, then a test would have been taken

The two offences are different, but often confused.

As discussed above - he has a potential defence if he can show there was no likelihood of him driving the vehicle whilst he was impaired.

soolin

As above, this is a difficult scenario when told via 3rd party.

It would be impossible to be charged with just drunk in charge merely on the roadside test, yes the police make procedural mistakes but that would be a huge one. Therefore it sounds like OP has not been told the entire truth, either another test was done at station either breath or blood, or brother refused to re test.

A refusal to re test could be worse than failing a test at the station.

Also, if car wasn't driveable on that night why was no attempt made to call for assistance, what was brother intending to do next day- just abandon it?

Again as above this needs to go to pepipoo but I would strongly urge brother to post himself and to give a clear and accurate story. They will not stand for any nonsense and this seems an important issue to get right before advice can be given.