Driver Receives Discretionary 35 Day Disqualification Instead of 12 month Disqualification Following a Number of Endorsable Offences.

This driver, who had 9 penalty points on his licence, faced a further endorsement of 6 penalty points for tyre offences and a financial penalty for no MOT. He was also serving a 12-month disqualification for drug driving. Millicent Dooher, barrister, represented this driver before the Magistrates. Where any driver accumulates 12 or more penalty points (‘tots’) there is a mandatory disqualification. If this is the driver’s first disqualification in 3 years this disqualification is for 6 months, if it is not the first, the mandatory disqualification is 12 months.

Millicent was able to persuade the Magistrates to look at this case in totality. The Magistrate’s imposed no penalty points and instead imposed a fine and a discretionary disqualification of 35 days, to end 1 day after the disqualification this driver was already serving for the previous drug drive offence.