Road traffic legal expert Richard Freeman explains Ant McPartlin's fine and why such a severe sentence couldn't be handed down in Scotland.

Had Ant McPartlin committed the same offence in Scotland, he would have faced a much smaller fine than the colossal 䀂,000 he received in England for drink driving. The maximum fine a court here could impose is £5000.

Even that would have been considered excessive for a first offender. The disparity occurs because England have introduced a new sentencing regime. Prior to that it shared the same sentencing approach to Scotland which was to impose a fine in accordance with the seriousness of the offence.

The relative wealth of the accused was in England, and still is in Scotland, largely irrelevant. The main consideration is whether an accused can afford a fine, and the rate of instalments which would be appropriate. In England the new sentencing guidelines apply a percentage of an accused’s after-tax earnings to calculate the fine, depending on how serious the offence was. Using this formula a high-earning celebrity like Ant McPartlin will pay a fine at a level that most people would consider a small lottery win. I have represented thousands of drink drivers spanning over 25 years in Scotland.

In my experience even for second offenders the fine has never been more than £2,000. If the courts consider that the offence is one which could not be met by a fine it is always able to consider a term of imprisonment. Looking at the nature of the offence, even taking account of the fact that Ant McPartlin crashed his car, the Scottish courts would not consider a jail sentence to be appropriate in this case.

It would appear that this eye-watering fine was imposed by an English court to act as a deterrent sentence for others drivers considering driving over the legal alcohol limit. In time, it will be interesting to see which approach will prove to be a greater deterrent. A lower drink driving limit in Scotland, or tougher fines in England?

Click HERE if you wish to view the Article on the GlasgowLive.co.uk website.

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