Court appearance for drink drving offence. Is representation required?

[DeclanP]

Representation may not be required for a drink driving offence if the person before the court does not have a previous conviction for the same offence of if the reading is not bananas high or if the arrest was not as a result of a road traffic accident where other more serious matters arise. The shortest period of disqualification is for one year for the lowest reading, then two years if the reading is above this and then three years — assuming it is a first offence. Generally the judge will ask the person if they want legal representation and if not, they will get an opportunity to explain what happened. For a first offence, legal representation is not essential as long as the defendant appears in court.

 

[BOF]

No offence but are they sure they werent given a date but were too drunk to remember it? I got arrested and failed the breath test and I was given a court date within 15 mins! And that was 5.30 in the AM!!

That I can't say (and they probably can't either). Surely any confirmation of said date would arrive in the post soon-ish after. Basically the offence and test results were 4 months ago and not a thing has happened since. The person hasn't driven since and it has very visibly shaken them up. Not trying to defend here but I can see (as a concerned relative) that they are psychologically already very much going through their punishment and would like to know for their sake when the deadline is.