Road Traffic Act Offences

DRIVING OFFENCES

Chambers members all accept instructions in varying types of cases that involve driving offences, ranging from the most serious offence of causing death by reckless driving to offences of failing to comply with requests for information.

We have members who specialise in dealing with privately paid driving cases, including representing those charged with excess alcohol or having taken controlled drugs (including all of the statutory defences), driving whilst unfit, the submission of special reasons and exceptional hardship. Our members are highly skilled in this area of law and will do their utmost to prevent, wherever possible, those Chambers represent from losing their licences.

Our members are instructed in cases of driving while disqualified, offences where the defendant faces totting disqualification, careless driving, failing to stop after an accident.

Members represent clients at both the Magistrates Courts and the Crown courts, including those cases where a conviction or sentence at the Magistrates Court id being appealed in the Crown Court,

9 KBW accept instructions in driving matters on a privately paid, publicly funded or Direct Public Access basis. Details of our Fee Scales can be found under the About Us page and the dedicated page for Direct Public Access scheme, which explains when and how a client may instruct a barrister directly.

Magistrates Court Offences

R v P [2023] – Crawley Magistrates’ Court Harry Stallard defended a client of good character who faced an immediate custodial sentence and a 3-year disqualification for crashing his car on the M23 as a result of driving with excess alcohol and controlled drugs. Through effective mitigation, the Magistrates were persuaded to move well outside the sentencing guidelines by imposing a fine and the minimum period of disqualification of 12 months.

R v S (Guildford) – Sam Lubner represented a boiler repairman facing a totting up disqualification. He had no dependents and had no special use for his vehicle beyond his work. In mitigation, Sam highlighted various aspects of the boiler-repair trade and explained how a disqualification would damage his long-term career prospects. The bench imposed a low-level discretionary disqualification.

R v B (Stratford Magistrates’ Court) George Skinner defended client at trial who was charged with careless driving, failure to stop and failure to report an incident. Defendant was acquitted of all charges.

R v H (Stratford) – Sam Lubner represented a driver charged with careless driving, failing to stop, and failing to report an accident. Sam submitted that as no Notice of Intended Prosecution was sent, the bench needed only to assess the defendant’s defence that he failed to stop and report because he was unaware an accident had taken place. The bench agreed and, as they were unsure of whether he knew about the accident, acquitted him of careless driving without needing to assess his standard of driving as captured by dashcam. 

Crown Court Offences

R v ZA (Reading Crown Court): Louis Maskell represented a defendant charged with dangerous driving. The Crown alleged that the defendant completed a dangerous manoeuvre which resulted in him colliding into a motorcyclist causing them injury. The defendant accepted that he collided with the motorcyclist but said that it was the bike who created the danger. After a three-day trial, the defendant was acquitted of the single count and the lesser offence of driving without due care and attention. 

R v H Surinder Singh Gohlan instructed for the defence in a 9 count indictment case, including Dangerous Driving, two counts of Driving whilst disqualified, Criminal Damage and several counts of breaching a restraining order

R v A: Samuel March successfully opposed an abuse of process argument after a half day legal argument. The case concerned a defendant who had already been dealt with, in the magistrates’ court, for driving other than in accordance with a licence. He was charged a year later with possessing a false ID document in relation to the same incident.

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