In this Penrith DUI Lawyers blog post we analyse a recent case studies regarding a Low Range Drink Driving offence which was listed at the Penrith Courthouse. Ultimately, we achieved a wonder Section 10 result for our client. See more below:
Penrith Court Drink Driving Lawyers Update
On Monday, 7 November 2016 Joshua Boorman of Boorman Lawyers appeared in the Penrith Local Court for a client who had been charged with a low range drink driving offence.
The offence in itself was a relatively standard type of drink driving offence in the overall spectrum of drink driving offences. Our client had recorded a positive blood alcohol reading of 0.052 so she was just over the legal limit of 0.050. However in relation to drink driving offences in New South Wales and other states around Australia there is no grey area or discretion that can be applied for a person who is just over the legal limit.
The Law for drink driving is very clear and it is black-and-white if you are over the legal limit then you must be charged with a drink driving offence.
Our client understood this and she accepted the position that she put herself in. Furthermore, she showed the Court that she was contrite and remorseful over her actions and accepted full responsibility for her offending behaviour.
Low Range Drink Driving Penalties in NSW
In New South Wales when a person has been charged with a Low Range PCA offence it means that if they are of the holder of an Unrestricted drivers license and they have recorded a positive blood alcohol reading between 0.050 and 0.080.
For such an offence in New South Wales penalties apply when a person either enters a plea of Guilty or is found Guilty by a court.
There is an automatic disqualification period for 6 months which can be in certain circumstances reduced down to a minimum period of 3 months for a low range drink driving offence.
Generally, the Court will issue a financial penalty or fine which can be anywhere up to $1100 and in addition to the disqualification and fine the court must record a criminal conviction for a low range drink driving offence in New South Wales.
Section 10 for Low Range Drink Driving in NSW
The only way that a person can avoid receiving a disqualification of their license, a criminal conviction recorded and a financial penalty is by either defending the drink driving offence and being found not guilty or receiving what is called a Section 10.
In this day and age it is quite difficult to defend a drink driving offence NOT impossible but in most cases extremely difficult and for this reason 99% of the cases that go before the court are pleas of Guilty for drink driving offences in New South Wales.
For this reason most people who go before the court on a low range drink driving offence are seeking the ultimate level of leniency rainy by the court by receiving a Section 10.
Section 10 is simply a section or provision under the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 NSW which is says that in certain cases where there are extenuating circumstances involved then the Court is able to use its discretion to not record a criminal conviction, not disqualify a person’s license and not issue a fine.
Receiving a section 10 is often considered the holy grail of results when pleading Guilty for a criminal offence in New South Wales.
In order to obtain a Section 10 for drink driving offence it is not as easy as simply turning up to the Court explaining your difficulties of receiving a conviction or losing your license and then asking for a section 10. Instead a person needs to go further than this and persuade the Court that dealing with a low range drink driving offence by way of section 10 due to a number of persuasive issues would be the best course of action for the court to take in relation to the matter.
Case preparation for Low Range DUI to get a Section 10
In relation to this low range drink driving offence which we appeared in Penrith Local Court we needed to do a great deal of preparation and put in place a well thought out and strategic case to persuade the Court to deal with the matter by way of a Section 10.
Luckily for our client there were a number of features surrounding her case which worked in her favour such as the relatively low level of blood alcohol reading that she recorded (0.052), the low level of offending, and the fact that she had quite a good traffic record over a long period of time.
However, there were a number of other things that we were able to help prepare and organise in order to persuade the court to deal with this matter by way of a Section 10 Good Behaviour Bond.
SAVE Traffic Offenders Program
Our client participated in and successfully completed the fully approved SAVE Traffic Offenders Program at the Richmond location in Western Sydney. This course was completed prior to her Court appearance and she was provided with a completion certificate and we were also able to tender her workbook which she completed throughout the course.
By completing this course it showed the Magistrate and the Court that she has taken the matter very seriously and also taking proactive steps to ensure that the offence will not be repeated again in the future by re-educating and rehabilitating herself on driver safety in our community.
DUI Character References for Court
Far too often I see other solicitors and other self represented defendants handing up character references before the court which really have no purpose other than to say that the defendant is a good person.
I can tell you now that Magistrates rarely see a bad or scathing DUI Character Reference about someone. All references which Magistrates read have something good to say about the defendant however what we like to do is tender a character reference or letter of support which goes beyond just saying the standard things that the person is of good character and a good person and honest and reliable we like to have a more specific purpose for the character reference that we tender to the Court on our clients behalf.
Professional Character Reference from Employer
So in this case we were able to get our client organise a professional reference from her employer which really outlined to the Court our clients need to be able to drive in order to get to and from work and also to be able to perform her duties at work. This letter of support from our clients employer even went as far as to say that her job was on the line if she was unable to hold a valid drivers license.
Personal Reference from Daughter & Close Friend
We were also able to get out client to arrange a further two character references which came from people who were very close to her in her life so they were able to give a more personal insight as to the type of person my client is and certainly some of the struggles that she has had to endure over recent years.
These references gave a unique insight into my clients life in particular relating to a very messy divorce following a abusive relationship. It also confirmed that my client was a single mother who needed to provide for her young children and also to repay mortgage payments, small loans, credit cards and other usual living expenses associated with raising children.
Issues raised in the personal character reference was tendered on behalf of my client really raised the awareness of how important it was for our client to maintain stable employment since other people in her life relied upon her to provide for them.
Letter of Apology for Drink Driving Offence
Finally, we helped out client put together a well written letter of apology which showed the Court how incredibly remorseful and regretful our client was over the incident.
The letter of apology also outlined some specific examples of lessons that she learnt after completing the Traffic Offenders Program.
The letter of apology touched upon the significant concerns our client has and the flow on effects that would occur if our client was to lose her license.
Penrith DUI Lawyers Court Result
When we appeared before the Penrith Magistrate’s Court we packaged our clients case together into a persuasive case which was well received by the Magistrate on the day.
Not only did we tender all of the above mentioned character references on behalf of our client but we also tendered public transport timetables to show that from when our client lives to where she needed to go to get to work, public transport was infrequent and unreliable during the times which she needed to commute to work.
Again we also tendered the completion certificate and workbook for the traffic offenders program.
We also addressed our clients good traffic record and ultimately the Magistrate on the day was convinced and persuaded that if our client was to lose her license she would face termination of her employment and this was a significant factor which the Magistrate took into consideration when dealing with this matter.
Obviously the other big issue which the Magistrate took into consideration was the relatively low level of offending and this is something that we discussed in detail before the court.
Our client was granted the indulgence of receiving the ultimate leniency by obtaining a Section 10 order but this did involve a good behaviour bond for a period of 12 months which means that she needs to not break the law or commit any offence which could bring her back to court within the next 12 months.
Our client was extremely relieved and happy with the results since she is now able to continue driving and is not at risk of losing her job and being unable to provide for her young children.
Certainly it has been a massive lesson learnt for our client and as our clients solicitor I am very confident that this will be a one off Incident that will not be repeated again in the future.
Contact Penrith Drink Driving Lawyers
If you have found yourself in a situation where you have been charged with any sort of serious major traffic offence such as drink-driving, DUI, drug driving, suspended or disqualified driving or any other serious traffic offence then please feel free to give me a call on 1300 941 900.
I am happy to have a 1st Free consult with you over the telephone and then if you would like to discuss getting our firm on board to appear and represent for you in Court then we can also discuss what’s involved in that process.
Speak to our DUI Lawyers Ph: 1300 941 900
Our DUI Lawyers can be contacted at:
Boorman Lawyers NSW & QLD Solicitors