drink driver, what a plonk(er)

[hubgearfreak]

http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/Lin ... story.html

please don't go googling further, just read the link supplied. then let's play guess the ban and guess the fine.

after you've put your guess up here, feel free to google it. the court case has been and gone and he's been found guilty of driving with 137mg (the limit is 80mg) it's all in the paper copy of the paper this week.

BTW. well done to the police who had the guts to stop him.

[snibgo]

I dunno what the usual punishment is for this. But I suppose he's lost his job, which most offenders wouldn't.

[thirdcrank]

I see he was suspended at the time, which means they had dismissal in mind. (Afaik, dismissal is pretty much the norm.) I presume the penalty must have been unusually lenient or severe to have inspired the theme of the thread.

If he has been dismissed (being convicted of a criminal offence is a specific police disciplinary offence) the financial disaster for him will not only be the loss of the job but the pension implications. No matter what waffle is spouted in mitigation at court or published by the media, his existing pension entitlement is safe. But, assuming he has around 20 years service, he will have accrued 20/60 ie eventually he will be entitled to 1/3 salary. During the last 10 years of service, pension rights accrue at 2/60 pa., leading to the soon-to-be scrapped 2/3 final salary pension. None of this is a secret within the police service, so he knew what he was risking in terms of £££ as well as the risk to the safety of other people.

[pete75]

About 1 1/2 times the limit in Lincolnshire - I guess about 18 months ban reduced by a few months if he goes on a drink driving course. Fairly stiff fine though - £250 or thereabouts.


Mind you that drink drive offence is nothing compared to this from the same police force http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-li ... e-16874155

[hubgearfreak]

I dunno what the usual punishment is for this. But I suppose he's lost his job, which most offenders wouldn't.

they would have done if their job involved driving, as his did.

[Mick F]

Why was he stopped?
There's always a reason.

Funny, but the index number of the car must have been recognised by the DVLA computer, and the coppers who stopped him must have known he was a copper too.

Seems to me that there's more to this story ............

[hubgearfreak]

Why was he stopped?

according to the paper copy of the local paper....

two policepeople on foot were walking back to the station and saw him staggering accross the station carpark after a night on the town towards his car. the foot police stopped him as he drove out of the station grounds as they suspected he was breaking the law. as is their job - and well done i say.

care to guess at the fine and/or ban ?

[daveg]

The fine and the ban are almost irrelevent. He will have lost his job (rightly so) and that is far greater punishment as he seemed to be building a solid career. Don't know his overall position but if he is married with kids that's only the start of it.

I wouldn't like the prospect of looking for work in this day and age having been sacked by the Police.

What I would like to know is given his job and his knowledge, what on earth possessed hime to get sozzled in the first place?

[pioneer]

Go on Hubbers, put us out of our misery. What did he get?

[wirral_cyclist]

'In the job' is clearly an automatic 12 month ban and £200 fine, regardless of anything else (pillar of society/knowing better, balancing out...), my guess is he will have resigned to protect his pension (not in danger anyway). BUT of course he will shortly have a better paid job, working 9-5, for ACPO, who are shortly to be running most police forces at a level between 'civilian' and 'job'. The last bit about ACPO being in charge as rent-a-cop is still 'secret', but the spin has started, so expect scary DM stories of out-sourcing etc, this is to be followed by a huge DM collective sigh of relief on say Wednesday, when ACPO (police you know) state they are supervising (for a fee/licensing arrangement), this last bit may cause some discomfort as ears pop as air pressure changes from the collective sigh...
Discomfort to others that object to an unelected body of ex-plod running such a multi £billion business will be ignored.

[thirdcrank]

Go on Hubbers, put us out of our misery. What did he get?

If you don't want to know the result, look away now

http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/Lin ... story.html

(I googled after I had posted my first response.)

[Mick F]

I still think there's more to this story.

[pete75]

The fine and the ban are almost irrelevent. He will have lost his job (rightly so) and that is far greater punishment as he seemed to be building a solid career. Don't know his overall position but if he is married with kids that's only the start of it.

That isn't just confined to police officers. The same goes for truck drivers, sales reps, some tradesmen, health visitors, district nurses etc - anyone who needs to drive for work.

[thirdcrank]

On the general point of job loss following a breathalyser driving ban, this shows how attitudes have changed over the 45 years since breath testing was introduced. Once upon a time, so long as the conviction involved an off-duty incident, the offender would simply have been transferred to a job which did not involve driving, possibly re-emerging after the ban had expired.

It's not only attitudes to drink driving that have changed, of course. The police service no longer has a problem with wastage (which used to mean that people were retained "at all costs") and there are now far fewer so-called inside jobs, where there is no need to drive on duty.

None of this is a secret within the police service, so nobody who is caught is under any doubt of the likely outcome.

[reohn2]

I still think there's more to this story.

The truth is stranger than fiction at times..............hmm,well,err..........

On the one hand I feel sorry for him loosing his job over one incident,and part of me thinks that a hefty fine upwards of £750,and an 18month ban would have sent out a message to other police officers as what happens to keepers of the law who break it.
Perhaps disciplinary action such as reduction in rank would also have sent out the right message.
Loosing an officer of that calibre and experience can only be a real loss to the policeforce.

On the other hand he knew the risks and still took them