Happy St Patrick’s Day!

To those of you heading out to celebrate, have a good night and remember not to drive if you are planning to drink – maybe that sounds like strange advice from a solicitor who specialises in defending drink drivers?  I don’t think it is, because as solicitors our job is to ensure those who are accused of a crime receive the very best legal advice and representation when they are accused.  That doesn’t mean we are here to encourage anybody to put themselves or others at risk.

But, the truth is a lot of people commit offences unintentionally.  Very few drivers we represent went out planning to drink drive; most misjudge the amount of alcohol they can safely consume and remain under the drink driving limit.  That’s why we say not to drive if you plan to have anything to drink.  We also see a lot of people who wake up the morning after a night out, get behind the wheel feeling fine only to be stopped by police and discover they are over the limit.

Thames Valley Police have recently been celebrating the success of their Christmas drink driving campaign in which more than 300 people were arrested between 1 December 2015 and 1 January 2016.  Comments from individual officers in the run up to St Patrick’s Day suggest that police across Oxfordshire – indeed across the whole Thames Valley area – have been conducting a mini-drink driving campaign.  You can expect police officers to be on the look out for anybody they think might be drink driving throughout St Patrick’s Day and all over the weekend.  Don’t be surprised to see more officers than usual on the streets and a spike in drink driving arrests across the whole weekend.

We hope you don’t find yourself accused of a crime you never intended to commit, but if you do then do not hesitate to call us on 01869 866 490 for the best representation available from expert and experienced drink driving solicitors.