What is the maximum amount of time allowed from being pulled over by
the police to being summoned by the police/court case for the case to
still be valid?

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Request for Question Clarification by answerfinder-ga on 13 May 2006 00:16 PDT

Dear zootreeves-ga,

I am a little confused. A drink driving offence normally results in an
immediate arrest, and if you fail the breath test at the police
station, an immediate charge, not a summons. Could you elaborate as to
what happened so that I may give a full answer.

answerfinder-ga

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Clarification of Question by zootreeves-ga on 13 May 2006 02:24 PDT

Ok I will try and clarify. I got pulled over and breathalized and
failed, then taken to the station to have a blood test which I also
failed. They did not charge me on the spot as they said they needed to
wit for the blood test results. It has been over 4 months now and
everytime I go into the station to get the results they tell me to
come back in another 2 weeks. I am just wondering what is the maximum
length of time they can do this?

Dear zootreeves-ga,

You have been bailed from the police station under Section 47(3) of
the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, as amended by the Criminal
Justice and Public order Act 1994.

This means that the police do not have sufficient evidence to charge
you, but are permitted to release you on unconditional bail while they
make further enquiries to obtain evidence. In this case: the results
of your blood test for alcohol. Once this is obtained then they will
make a decision whether to charge or not.

The Act does not state any time limit. However, the police should make
these further enquiries expeditiously and without delay. If there is
unwarranted delay and a charge is later made, it could be open to a
defence application to the Magistrates Court or Crown Court that there
was an abuse of process.

However, in this case, the time it has taken is still not yet
unreasonable. It would appear that there may be a delay at the
laboratory, or the results have not yet been passed to the
investigating officer. Interestingly, this delay for a drink drive
offence is unusual, so perhaps there is a problem with the sample or
process (I don?t wish to falsely raise your hopes on this). I would
wait until six months and then if nothing has been decided I would
speak to a solicitor with a view of them contacting the police to make
them aware of the possible abuse of process in this case.

Whatever you do, do not fail to report when and where required as they
could re-arrest you. It is not worth the additional problems that this
will entail.
 
Section 47/3(b) Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 is not available
online, you would have to purchase it from the HMSO or a good book
shop.

This answer is from my own knowledge as a former police officer.

I hope this answers your question. If it does not, or the answer is
unclear, then please ask for clarification of this research before
rating the answer. I shall respond to the clarification request as
soon as I receive it.
Thank you
answerfinder

I don't know that there is any maximum.

The general rule in England & Wales (the Scots sometimes have
different rules) is that there is no Statute of Limitations for
Criminal Offences.

However, I guess it's unlikely that prosecutions for Drink Driving
Offences would be postponed indefinitely.

Just to confirm what everyone else has said, most driving offences
carry a 6 month statute of limitation. this means that from the date
of offence the police have 6 months to charge or summons you. Drink
drive offences are a little different and are not subject to this time
limit. if over 6 months pass and the results show a +ve result you
will still be charged and go to court. Also if you did not attend a
warrant would be issued and you would find yourseld in deeper trouble
when caught.