Role play 8: in charge of a car when under the influence

This semi-scripted role play, part of a set taken from Law in action: learning through scripted role plays, includes the details of the charge and an outline script.

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The charge: in charge of a motor vehicle whilst unfit through drink or drugs

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The policeman’s version as reported to the Crown Prosecution Service:

On the 25th of last month at 23:30 hours two policemen were in a marked police car on routine patrol. As part of that patrol they checked the car park adjacent to the tennis courts in a local park. The park is close to a council estate where car crime is prevalent. The car park is open, without any barriers, to the general public but is unlit.

They saw a single car in the car park, and in the light of their headlamps and a hand held spotlight they saw a single occupant, the defendant; he appeared to be slumped over the steering wheel. At first, they thought he was ill. They approached the car and noticed three empty lager cans next to the driver’s door. They opened the driver’s door and the defendant sat up. They smelled alcohol and attempted to assist him out of the car in order to breathalyse him. He could not perform the breath test and so he was arrested. He became violent and had to be restrained and handcuffed. At the police station he was found to be three times over the limit. He was tested periodically and was only cleared to be released at 14:00hours the following day.

Under caution, he admitted consuming a number of cans of lager and half a bottle of whisky in the car park. He went on to say that he had no intention of driving but would have walked home, a distance of about one mile. He claimed, variously, that he had taken the drink to the car park because he was depressed, that he had “woman trouble”, that he suffered from “seasonal depression syndrome”.

He is a single man, unemployed, but does some casual work in the construction industry. Both parents, although retired, are still living, and he spends a lot of time with them doing odd jobs.

He has no previous convictions.

The defendant’s version as told to his solicitor:

He lives alone, but fairly near to his aged parents, and often does odd jobs around the house for them. He is unemployed but obtains casual work from an employer friend in the construction industry. His loneliness, plus, he believes, seasonal depression syndrome, plus his unemployment, led to this event.

He had felt particularly depressed on that day. He had visited his parents, and on his way home to his lonely flat he had called at a beer-off and bought three cans of extra strength lager for himself and a bottle of whisky to give to his father. He couldn’t face the loneliness of the flat and so he had driven to the car park where he intended to listen to the car radio. He drank the lager, which seemed to increase his depression, and then he drank half the whisky. By then he had no intention of driving again that night – his intention was to walk home, about a mile, leaving the car locked, and to collect it the following day.

When the police arrived he wasn’t slumped over the steering wheel, he was reaching down to the car radio searching for a different station. The police were very aggressive towards him and he regrettably reacted to their aggression. If they had been properly polite, he would have been more amenable and cooperative.

He has no previous convictions.

The script

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Usher:
Case number eight on the list, your worships, Simon Howard, represented by Ms Hetherington.

Clerk:
Will you tell the court your full name and address?

Defendant:
My name is Simon Howard and I live at ‘Fairholme’, Back Lane, Bolsterstone, near Sheffield.

Clerk:
It is said that on the 25th of last month you were on a public road, in charge of a motor vehicle whilst unfit to drive through drink or drugs – do you understand the charge?

Defendant:
Yes I do.

Clerk:
At previous hearings you pleaded not guilty and I believe that your plea remains the same. Please be seated.

Prosecuting solicitor:
[Makes opening statement and calls police officer as witness]

Usher:
Please read aloud from the card.
[Officer affirms and reads from card]

Prosecuting solicitor:
[Examines witness in chief]

Defending solicitor:
[Cross examines witness]

Prosecuting solicitor:
[Prosecution re-examines witness and invites bench to ask questions before witness leaves box]
[Calls second police officer as witness]

Usher:
Please read aloud from the card.
[Witness reads affirmation from card]

Prosecuting solicitor:
[Examines witness in chief]

Defending solicitor:
[Cross examines]

Prosecuting solicitor:
[Prosecutor re-examines the witness and then concludes]
Unless you have any questions, that is the case for the prosecution, your worships.

Defending solicitor:
[Before calling the defendant, his only witness, the defending solicitor might question whether a car park adjacent to, and primarily for the use of, a tennis court is a ‘public place’ in the meaning of the Act. If this legal argument were accepted the case would fall and there would be no need to call further evidence. We will presume that either the argument hasn’t been raised or the court has ruled that the car park is a public place. The solicitor for the defence therefore calls the defendant.]

Usher:
Please read from the card.
[Defendant reads oath from card]

Defending solicitor:
[Examines witness in chief]

Prosecuting solicitor:
[Cross examines]

Defending solicitor:
[Re-examines witness]
[Sums up the defence]

Chairman:
The bench will retire.

Usher:
All rise.

Last Modified: 30 June 2010