Jump to content

Paddy's "Things that cheer you up"


rjw63

Recommended Posts

I was in court earlier in the week.  A colleague alerted me to an amusing case.  

Mr X is 24 and lives at home with mom.  He has a night out drinking with his girlfriend and they return to mom's house.  It's 4am and they are peckish.  So they both hop on mom's mobility scooter and head off for the local 24 hour McDonald's.  He is driving.  She is hanging on the back.  They get to McDonald's and decide to park up next to a Police car with two officers enjoying a doughnut based snack. He falls off the scooter and then makes a joke about the officers food choices. 

They immediately arrest him for drink driving.  

 

 

  • Like 1
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, Mandy Lifeboats said:

I was in court earlier in the week.  A colleague alerted me to an amusing case.  

Mr X is 24 and lives at home with mom.  He has a night out drinking with his girlfriend and they return to mom's house.  It's 4am and they are peckish.  So they both hop on mom's mobility scooter and head off for the local 24 hour McDonald's.  He is driving.  She is hanging on the back.  They get to McDonald's and decide to park up next to a Police car with two officers enjoying a doughnut based snack. He falls off the scooter and then makes a joke about the officers food choices. 

They immediately arrest him for drink driving.  

 

 

Guess at location,  Liverpool or Yorkshire ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 16/02/2023 at 14:51, Mandy Lifeboats said:

I was in court earlier in the week.  A colleague alerted me to an amusing case.  

Mr X is 24 and lives at home with mom.  He has a night out drinking with his girlfriend and they return to mom's house.  It's 4am and they are peckish.  So they both hop on mom's mobility scooter and head off for the local 24 hour McDonald's.  He is driving.  She is hanging on the back.  They get to McDonald's and decide to park up next to a Police car with two officers enjoying a doughnut based snack. He falls off the scooter and then makes a joke about the officers food choices. 

They immediately arrest him for drink driving.  

Just a thought, a McDonalds car park isn’t a public highway and there’s no way they spotted him actually on the highway with a doughnut on their mind

Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, bickster said:

Just a thought, a McDonalds car park isn’t a public highway and there’s no way they spotted him actually on the highway with a doughnut on their mind

McDonald's is private land but its also a highway that is open to the public.  

It's a bit of a myth that you can't be done for traffic offences on private land. 

I thought the magistrate explained this to you in great detail on the day of the trial. 

Let it go.  

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

44 minutes ago, bickster said:

Just a thought, a McDonalds car park isn’t a public highway and there’s no way they spotted him actually on the highway with a doughnut on their mind

 

A drink driving offence can be committed on a road or other public place. A public place is unfortunately not defined by the person who owns it, instead it is defined by whether the public have access and utilise access to the land.

It can also be defined by a number of other factors such as the signs in the area, whether there are any barriers to entry and whether the owner restricts access. It is a very technical argument that is defined on a case by case basis, there is unfortunately no universal answer. 

If you were stopped and arrested in a privately owned supermarket car park, but the car park is open to the general public and it is during opening times, then even though the land is privately owned, and even if you need a ticket to park there, it would absolutely be classed as a public place and you would be guilty of the offence.

If you were stopped and arrested in a privately owned supermarket car park, but it was outside of opening times and the owner restricted access by, for example, putting a barrier across the entry or operating a wheelclamping service, then the car park is likely to be considered a private place and it is unlikely you would be convicted of drink driving.

https://www.pattersonlaw.co.uk/faqs/drink-driving-private-land/

Edited by Mandy Lifeboats
Added details
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

54 minutes ago, Mandy Lifeboats said:

 

A drink driving offence can be committed on a road or other public place. A public place is unfortunately not defined by the person who owns it, instead it is defined by whether the public have access and utilise access to the land.

It can also be defined by a number of other factors such as the signs in the area, whether there are any barriers to entry and whether the owner restricts access. It is a very technical argument that is defined on a case by case basis, there is unfortunately no universal answer. 

If you were stopped and arrested in a privately owned supermarket car park, but the car park is open to the general public and it is during opening times, then even though the land is privately owned, and even if you need a ticket to park there, it would absolutely be classed as a public place and you would be guilty of the offence.

If you were stopped and arrested in a privately owned supermarket car park, but it was outside of opening times and the owner restricted access by, for example, putting a barrier across the entry or operating a wheelclamping service, then the car park is likely to be considered a private place and it is unlikely you would be convicted of drink driving.

https://www.pattersonlaw.co.uk/faqs/drink-driving-private-land/

Correct. Same answer to where do you have to have Motor Insurance. Anywhere third parties have access to and can drive so company car parks, unfinished roads and even building sites are subject to the RTA. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...
Â