The Wrong Person Has Been Accused

Question:

If an in-law was driving the car at the time of the accident (no witnesses available or other car involved) with the accused (owner) as the passenger and the police came busting through the house door some 3 hours later (without warrant causing 1600 pounds of damage to the doors.

And charged the owner who by that time had suffered trauma and had been drinking heavily – lost all confidence in the police due to their actions and the initially appointed solicitor was not approachable (as he has a duty to the court) with one fact as to who the driver was as there would be repercussions on “spilling the beans” and the accused works away from home so he cannot be there to protect his family from the almost sure backlash that would follow.

If the accused did not commit the offence but cannot name the driver for this reason and tells this to the solicitor is the accused in worse trouble for being as honest as could be? Would it be better not to mention it or go to another solicitor. Please advise as the accused is facing a conviction of drink driving which was not committed. They have accused the wrong person.

Dominic Says:

I’m afraid that your outline of events is very confusing.

To summarize I think that you are suggesting that the owner of the car has been accused of drink driving when in fact the owner was not the driver. The driver was family member. The owner of the car does not feel able to tell the police this.

If the car owner is willing to take the punishment then he can instruct the solicitor to enter a guilty plea even though he has told the solicitor that he was not the driver. The solicitor would not be able to mention this in mitigation and would be able to say very little on the owners behalf. A solicitor is not able to mislead the court or the crown prosecution service.

There is no need to change solicitors if the instructions are going to remain the same.

My advice is tell the truth and defend the matter if they are accusing the wrong person of being the driver.

If you want a private lawyer to deal with this matter come back to me. I am unable to offer legal aid but the service you receive will be exceptional.