Ant McPartlin arrested over drink-driving collision

[cyclemad]

WHAT A BUFFOON !!

No excuse..

He's ill,it's an addiction.
He shouldn't drive,but if in his deluded and drink adled mind he thought he was capable then the result is what we see before us.It's not bufoonery it's a disease.

Disagree --- he is still a buffoon...a rich, irresponsible buffoon

so much for his recent rehab......

Should have got a taxi or hired a driver if required....ne knew what he was doing now will face the consequence and media backlash

no sympathy from me i'm afraid

[mercalia]

he could always get a job on The Archers?

[francovendee]

I dont understand the attraction of ant and dec. He isnt a bbc thing are they?

Nor me, I nearly choked when they were described as the new Morecambe and Wise!
Two men paid for doing one man's job badly

[661-Pete]

3. Driving despite adverse conditions - snow and ice (see all news media)

That last is not actually illegal. Some people have no option but to venture out whatever the weather (e.g. doctors and nurses). It's all a matter of whether you can handle it.

What worries me is: whether there's still a minority of folks who thing drink-driving is 'socially acceptable'. This 'Ant' person is, by all reports, going to find it difficult to shake off his alcohol dependency. Hence he shouldn't have been driving. Not ever. He ought to have known that.

[thirdcrank]

... Nor me, I nearly choked when they were described as the new Morecambe and Wise!
Two men paid for doing one man's job badly

One similarity might be that they come as a set. The one with short fat hairy legs never really made it on his own. Dec might be in a similar poition.

I've been wondering why the driver - who's not been officially named by the police - was released on bail, rather than charged and bailed to a court hearing.

In the original days of breath testing, suspects who had failed the test using chemical crystals in a glass tube were required to provide blood or urine specimens for lab analysis and were only charged immediately if they refused. Otherwise, they were released when they were fit to drive and proceedings were on hold, pending the report from the forensic science lab. With the introduction of definitive breath testing machines ie good enough for court, it became normal to charge suspects immediately. AFAIK, in borderline cases, the suspect still has a right to have the machine analysis compared with a blood/urine specimen, which introduces a delay in any court proceedings, but a borderline reading wouldn't tie in with a long period before the suspect was fit to drive.

Another possibility is a suspicion of something else impairing fitness to drive, which would need a lab analysis of specimens.

[Bonefishblues]

3. Driving despite adverse conditions - snow and ice (see all news media)

That last is not actually illegal. Some people have no option but to venture out whatever the weather (e.g. doctors and nurses). It's all a matter of whether you can handle it.

What worries me is: whether there's still a minority of folks who thing drink-driving is 'socially acceptable'. This 'Ant' person is, by all reports, going to find it difficult to shake off his alcohol dependency. Hence he shouldn't have been driving. Not ever. He ought to have known that.

And in a rational mind, of course that would have been the case.

[reohn2]

Disagree --- he is still a buffoon...a rich, irresponsible buffoon

so much for his recent rehab......

Should have got a taxi or hired a driver if required....ne knew what he was doing now will face the consequence and media backlash

no sympathy from me i'm afraid

The first step toward recovery from his problem is recognising it is a problem.
It seems that even though he did go into rehab for his drink problem he hasn't recognised it is a problem or that the drink is stronger than his will,if he had he wouldn't have been drinking and driving.
And whilst I agree he shouldn't have driven and a taxi fare to a man of such financial means would be peanuts,the fact that he drove points to a deeper problem much more say than someone who's juussttt over the DD limit and has miscalculated their alcohol intake,and I'll bet when the truth's out Partlin be waayyyy over.
I'm not sympathising with the offence and he deserves everything he gets as a result of his crimes when he's convicted,as he surely will be.I'm only sympathising with his drink problem,which in his case is an illness.

[reohn2]

3. Driving despite adverse conditions - snow and ice (see all news media)

That last is not actually illegal. Some people have no option but to venture out whatever the weather (e.g. doctors and nurses). It's all a matter of whether you can handle it.

What worries me is: whether there's still a minority of folks who thing drink-driving is 'socially acceptable'. This 'Ant' person is, by all reports, going to find it difficult to shake off his alcohol dependency. Hence he shouldn't have been driving. Not ever. He ought to have known that.

I think drink driving and drug driving(recreational or prescription)is more widspread than anyone is prepared to accept.

[Tangled Metal]

Wasn't his rehab related to prescription drug abuse?

I think someone upthread alluded to something else being involved. I can imagine it's prescription drugs or other drugs in his system. So he wasn't charged straight away and was held for longer than it could reasonably be expected for alcohol to clear his system. It sounds like there were other chemicals in his blood that affected his ability to drive and hence delayed his release. Probably there was more testing needed to determine what was in his system.

Addiction is an illness. You can't attribute idiot or buffoon status to someone affected deeply by addiction IMHO. Rational thought isn't possible in the same way a sober individual capable of.

[Bonefishblues]

Addiction is an illness. You can't attribute idiot or buffoon status to someone affected deeply by addiction IMHO. Rational thought isn't possible in the same way a sober individual capable of.

Indeed. I thought society had moved on generally in its understanding, but there may be individuals who have rather been left behind.

[reohn2]

Addiction is an illness. You can't attribute idiot or buffoon status to someone affected deeply by addiction IMHO. Rational thought isn't possible in the same way a sober individual capable of.

Indeed. I thought society had moved on generally in its understanding, but there may be individuals who have rather been left behind.

IMHO,there's a lack of empathy and understanding of alcoholism and substance abuse,similarly so gambling addiction,by some .

Slight thread drift alert.
It's a known fact that anorexia is a psychological illness but what of overeating?

[Bonefishblues]

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/prader-willi-syndrome/

For instance. A former employers used to have a specialism with this.

ETA
...I expect they can just eat smaller portions, eh

[reohn2]

I've listened to a couple of talks by Sam Harris a well known atheist,who puts forward the case for science negating the need for religion,in that people will believe whatever they want,but why would anyone continue to when there's absolutely no scientific proof of a super human God or gods?
True science is expanding knowledge continually to explain the why's and wherefore's of the world around us,and if those truths in some wa help us live better more fulfulling lives all the better.
The problem is that we know so much yet put so little of it into practice ie; Mc Partlin could quite easily have been stopped from driving by a number of scientific means,but his human rights may have been subject to restraint,so he's allowed to make his own mind up if he's fit to drive which for an alcoholic isn't good for him or the society he drives in.
The answer to his problem was not to drink and or take drugs and drive,but he can't be trusted with that responsibility due to his addiction,so now his human rights will have to be restricted anyway.
The problem is that after his driving ban(which I feel sure he'll employ a slick lawyer to reduce to an absolute minimum)the chance of reoffending will again be a possibility due to the responsibility being with him and him alone.

[mercalia]

Addiction is an illness. You can't attribute idiot or buffoon status to someone affected deeply by addiction IMHO. Rational thought isn't possible in the same way a sober individual capable of.

Indeed. I thought society had moved on generally in its understanding, but there may be individuals who have rather been left behind.

confused thinking
it is a self inflicted illness at best, the idiocy pertains to driving a car when you know you are that way? its not as if he is poor as some one has already said, he could afford a taxi or a driver ( probably tax deductable?) A responsible person knowing his/her weakness would have arranged a taxi before going out. He is like that lorry driver in Scotland who drove his lorry when he knew he had blackouts and killed some pedestrians. no sympathy at all for him. As for being so drunk that he wasnt capable of rational thought - well he managed to earn a nice living doing his tv job so couldnt be that far gone? Just a selfish irresponsible celeb who thinks he is above it all; I remember the case a little while ago, when Reese Witherspoon the actress was pulled over for speeding (in the USA), I think it was - her first words to the cop were angrilly "dont you know who I am?" as if that meant she was better than the rest of humanity and special rules applied to her.

[Bonefishblues]

confused thinking
it is a self inflicted illness at best,

No it's not.

the idiocy pertains to driving a car when you know you are that way? its not as if he is poor as some one has already said, he could afford a taxi or a driver ( probably tax deductable?) A responsible person knowing his/her weakness would have arranged a taxi before going out. He is like that lorry driver in Scotland who drove his lorry when he knew he had blackouts and killed some pedestrians. no sympathy at all for him.

That's not a comparison.

As for being so drunk that he wasnt capable of rational thought - well he managed to earn a nice living doing his tv job so couldnt be that far gone? Just a selfish irresponsible celeb who thinks he is above it all;

That's representative of some of the dated attitudes I alluded to earlier.

I remember the case a little while ago, when Reese Witherspoon the actress was pulled over for speeding (in the USA), I think it was - her first words to the cop were angrilly "dont you know who I am?" as if that meant she was better than the rest of humanity and special rules applied to her.

I fail to see any parallel.