Top barrister done for drink driving

One of Manchester's top criminal barristers has been fined £1,200 and banned from driving for 16 months after pleading guilty to drink driving.

Alaric Bassano of Exchange Chambers has made a name for himself prosecuting a series of high profile defendants, including boxer Amir Khan and Jonathan Adair, son of terrorist Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair. But he found himself on the wrong side of the dock a couple of weeks ago when he was up before Bury Magistrates Court on a drink driving charge.

Bassano had been stopped at 2am on 16th December, apparently on his way back from a Chambers' party, after driving erratically. He was found to have nearly twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system, was arrested and charged with driving with excess alcohol. He pleaded guilty on 30th December and was fined and banned.

Honestly officer, I've only had a few ales

Exchange Chambers wouldn't comment.

Tip Off ROF

Comments

shurely he should have fled the scene before telling the rozzers he'd been kidnapped?

SHURELY the rozzers wouldn't fall for that one twice over the same Christmas period ! Perhaps claiming to have been beamed aboard an alien spaceship and subjected to terrible medical experiments causing slurred speech and unsteadiness on ones feet might have worked though.

Maybe he was making time?

You're supposed to refuse everything but a urine sample.

You may refuse-but then you will be charged with refusing to give a sample.
You have no right to insist on any particular type of analysis. That is a matter for the Police.
Always a better course of action is to be cooperative and to seek advice from a Solicitor. If you don't know one you can speak to the Duty Solicitor. The Duty Solicitor is not some form of inferior sub-species of lawyer but instead being a Duty Solicitor is an indicator of expertise.
The worst thing you can do is to listen to "advice" from your mates or the public bar lawyer.

You'd have been no fun on the set of Withnail and I.