Advice needed on a criminal matter

[No9striker]

Hi all, not sure where to post this so I thought I would start here. This is in regards to my 17 yr old son. He was stopped after turning left into a restricted access road. Once stopped he failed a road side cannabis swab test and was arrested and taken to the police station. At the station he completed a wellness test and was told he had passed with "flying colours". Before I arrived at the station he had been given a blood test without any parental consent and when I arrived was told that he could be released. This all happened in November 2020 and a lot has changed since then. He now has a job which has offered him an apprenticeship but he will need to drive. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. His result was 3.5ug the limit is 2ug

[des8]

Did you have an independent analysis of his blood, or are you relying on the police used laboratory result?

There are practical problems for laboratories when trying to analyse blood and produce accurate results for the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
It could be worth having your own analysis

Your son will be facing (assuming he has been charged) a minimum 12 month ban for exceeding the minimum level.
Depending on how much impact that will have, you might consider employing a solicitor specialising in contesting drug related driving offences

Doubtlessly such a solicitor will want to know if your son was told his rights e.g. have a solicitor or appropriate adult present; as under 18 they should also attempt to contact you.
My understanding (possibly faulty) is the police needed both your son and an appropriate adult to agree to taking a blood sample.

There is likely to be a cost for such a solicitor's assistance, but you might consider it worthwhile

[islandgirl]

The guidelines say: "As a guide, where an offence of being in charge has been committed but there are no factors that increase seriousness the Court should consider a starting point of a Band B fine, and endorsing the licence with 10 penalty points."

Depends on the circumstances of course. The court will take into account that he is working and will not wish to ban him if he will lose his job though this depends on what actually happened and where the offence sits in the guidelines: https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk...guidance-only/
I agree that legal advice will certainly be worth having.