Is A £29,000 Fine Is Enough For Drink Driving?Ing

[piggynose]

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-64412529

[ToraToraTora]

The fine is based on income.

[Dizmo]

I think, given how much money they make, £29,000 is a very small amount.

[Gromit]

Sounds about right. Half his weekly wage.

[piggynose]

I think the judge was too lenient!! 12months ban reduced to 9 months!!!
Mind you I don't know what 8ml over the legal limit really means!
Do you think he got out of his car and had to walk in a straight line to see how drunk he was?

[Dizmo]

He was 8 over the legal limit, however I think it that area he would have been ok if he'd blown 39 or less. In some areas, they only arrest you for drink-driving if you blow 40 or over.

As far as the 12-month ban is concerned, I agree with that, as he was only just over the limit. The fine should have been a lot more, in my opinion.

[barry1010]

It's a bit more scientific than walking in a straight line, he would have blown in to a bag and/or given a blood or urine sample

[Ken4155]

Looks fair enough to me. The lowering of the driving ban for taking the course is standard practice.

https://www.forum.drinkdriving.org/threads/calculation-of-fines.38/

[Peter Pedant]

write out 100 x - - I must not drink and drive
oops footballers can't write

[Hymie]

Back in the early 70s a friend’s father was convicted of drink-driving and was banned for a year. He was also fined around £180, which would be at least 10 times that amount in today’s money.

Whenever I see DD cases reported these days and the fine imposed on ordinary people, it reminds me of the fine imposed on my friend’s father, more than 50 years ago.

[youngmafbog]

Very unlucky to be fined in the 70's - unless you had an accident the rozzers didnt seem to care.

As TTT says the fine is now based on income.

[piggynose]

Wtfa rozzers? Would be plod?

[piggynose]

*n't

[kuiperbelt]

/only arrest you for drink-driving if you blow 40 or over/

Generous Plod!

Legal limits for breathalyser in England and Wales 35 micograms in 100 millilitres of breath. In Scotland 22 micrograms!

Are DIY breathalyser kits the answer.?

[ToraToraTora]

Anyone can buy there own breathalyser:
https://www.halfords.com/motoring/car-accessories/breathalysers/

[ToraToraTora]

Their!

[New Judge]

The guideline for the offence has a “Starting Point” of one and a half weeks’ net income with a range of between one and 1.5 weeks’ net income. The judge put this offence at the lower end of seriousness. This seems appropriate as the band of seriousness covers up to 59μg of alcohol in breath (Mr. Joelinton was tested at 43μg). This would give a calculated fine of £43,000. However, he was entitled to a one third discount for his early guilty plea, so in fact he was a little over-sentenced (his fine should have been ££28,667). The surcharge (often referred to as a “Victim Surcharge”) is set at 40% of the fine, but is capped at £2,000.

Mr Joelinton was a little unfortunate. Until 2015 the maximum fine that could be imposed for the offence was £5,000, so with a guilty plea the maximum he would have paid was £3,333. Until June of last year the maximum surcharge was just £170.

[piggynose]

so i wonder how far he or anybody over the limit would have to be to receive a custodial sentence?

[New Judge]

//so i wonder how far he or anybody over the limit would have to be to receive a custodial sentence?//

The guidelines suggest that the court should consider custody at around three and a half times the legal limit, piggynose.

[piggynose]

The guidelines suggest that the court should consider custody at around three and a half times the legal limit, piggynose.
Dont you think thats scary?

[New Judge]

What's scary about it?