There is some confusion in the comments about Drunk In Charge on the previous thread.
It is quite common for a driver to be found asleep in his car, midway between the pub and his home, with the lights on and sometimes the engine running. It is pretty clear that he has been driving, but there is no hard evidence that he has done so, leaving DiC as the right charge. There is a statutory defence of having no intention to drive, and that is for the defendant to prove on the balance of probabilities (the civil standard). I wrote about one such here.
Musings and Snippets from a recently retired JP. I served for 31 years, mostly in west London. I was Chairman of my Bench for some years, and a member of the National Bench Chairmen's Forum All cases are based on real ones, but anonymised and composited. All opinions are those of one or more individuals. JPs swear to enforce the law of the land, whether or not they approve of it. Nothing on here constitutes legal advice.
Wrong, I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteThe test is not lack of intention to drive but whether you can show there was no likelihood of driving.
Blimey..schoolboy error