Client Avoids Prison for Dangerous Driving and Assault

Case study summary

Our client was charged with numerous driving and assault offences. She pleaded guilty at her first available opportunity but the seriousness of the offending meant that a prison sentence was a real possibility. We carefully prepared the case and avoided this outcome.

Case study

Our client was a 25-year-old woman. She approached our firm because she had been charged with a number of driving and assault charges including dangerous driving, failure to provide a specimen, assault of a police officer, abusive behaviour towards a police officer, and criminal damage. Although our client had no previous convictions, she had previously received a 6 month driving ban in 2021 which aggravated the offending.

We obtained the case papers from the prosecution. They stated that our client was observed driving a vehicle whilst intoxicated. When the police attempted to stop her, she drove away at excessive speeds. Our client was later located and arrested. During the arrest, she resisted and became aggressive towards the police officers. In the process, our client bit a police officer, threatened and assaulted another officer and caused damage to a police vehicle.

Our client immediately admitted the allegations and pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity. She could not remember the incident clearly due to being intoxicated at the time but she was fully remorseful and ashamed of her actions. Our client understood the seriousness of her actions and now realised that she needed support with her alcohol abuse.

We prepared the case with a view to achieving the best possible outcome for our client. We obtained character references to support her previous good character and guided her through her meeting with the probation services for the purposes of a pre-sentence report.

We instructed an expert barrister to represent our client at her sentence hearing. During the hearing, the prosecution argued that an immediate custodial sentence was appropriate due to the seriousness of the offending. Our client's barrister argued against this as our client was young, of previous good character and remorseful. The judge agreed that the offending was completely out of character for our client and she received an 8-month prison sentence which was suspended for 24 months as well as a driving disqualification. She was delighted with the outcome.