Drug Driving Charge Dropped Bromley Magistrates Court 2024

We were consulted by a client charged with a drug-driving allegation. The prosecution was unable to bring the court case before the Magistrates Court within 6 months for the summons to be issued.

Summary offences such as drug driving must be issued at the court within six months of the date of the allegation. Failure to do so is critical and the prosecution cannot proceed because the six-month time limit is strict and set by statute. We were able to quickly analyse the prosecution summons to attend court and our expert solicitors spotted that the date of the summons could not lead to the driver being prosecuted. Our client was promptly advised that the prosecution would fail and he did not incur any legal fees with us. He attended court and pointed this out to the prosecutor thereby leading the case against him being dismissed.

Section 127 Magistrates Court Act 1980 provides that for all summary offences, the information or complaint must be laid within six calendar months of the commission of the offence, except where any other Act expressly provides otherwise.

Driving or attempting to drive under the influence of drugs

It is illegal to drive if you are considered ‘unfit’ to do so if you’re using legal or illegal drugs, or if you have certain levels of illegal drugs in your blood (even if they have not affected your driving).

If it can be proven that you have drugs in your system while driving, you could face a range of penalties, including:

• A minimum 1-year driving ban
• An unlimited fine
• Up to 6 months in prison
• A criminal record

We can offer a rapid initial meeting for a fixed fee of £500 plus VAT to provide advice to you.