Aggravating and Mitigating Factors

Aggravating factors add to the severity of your drink driving offence. The court may consider these and impose stiffer penalties. Possible aggravating factors include:

• A previous conviction: If you have been previously charged with a drink driving offence, this qualifies as an aggravating factor. In most cases, a previous conviction for a similar offence within the last 10 years can lead to a driving disqualification period of at least 3 years.
• Dangerous driving: If you are also found guilty of driving at an unacceptable standard, this can also lead to a more severe set of penalties.
• Endangering other persons: Your drink driving can endanger other persons if you were carrying passengers at the time of the offence, or if you were driving in a high-traffic area at the time. If you also cause an accident, you can face life imprisonment, an unlimited fine, and a 5-year ban in the case of any deaths.

If you think your drink driving offence has aggravating factors, you must consult reliable drink driving offence lawyers.

Mitigating factors are such factors that blunt the nature of your offence. A court may consider these to trim the severity of your penalties. Some mitigating factors are:

• No previous conviction: If you have no previous or relevant conviction, you can cite this as proof of your good record and character. This may persuade the court to let you off with a lighter sentence.
• An emergency: If you drove under the influence of alcohol because it was an emergency, the court may take a lighter view of your offence. For instance, you may have to rush someone to the hospital due to a medical emergency, even if you were drunk. If other aggravating factors like dangerous driving are absent, you can plead for lower penalties.
• Involuntarily drunk: It is possible that someone spiked your drink without your knowledge. When this is the case, you may not even be aware that you are drink-driving. If you can provide sufficient evidence for this, the court may reduce the severity of the penalties.
• A medical condition: Sometimes, a drink-driving offender may have a medical condition such as a learning disability or a disorder. This may prevent the offender from making sound judgments. If proper medical evidence for this type of medical condition is furnished, the court is very likely to reduce the sentence.
• A guilty plea: In many cases, the court will reduce the severity of the penalties on account of a guilty plea. This is simply because such a plea saves the court time and other resources. However, a guilty plea will have no bearing on the disqualification period.

Our motoring offence solicitors can help you determine if any mitigating factors are present in your case. With the help of our personal injury solicitors, you can then seek reduced penalties by citing these factors.