North Ayrshire has among the weaker labour markets in the west of Scotland, and a great many people in Irvine drive out of the area to work — to Glasgow, to Prestwick, to the industrial sites along the coast. A disqualification here therefore does more than inconvenience: it can put a job out of reach entirely, and it arrives alongside penalty points that will sit on a licence for years and an insurance premium that reflects them. Charles Ferguson Solicitors defend motoring charges throughout Ayrshire from our Glasgow office at 20-23 Woodside Place, G3 7QL. Call 0141 345 5735 before you decide how to plead.
Kilmarnock Sheriff Court — Road Traffic Cases
Motoring prosecutions arising in Irvine are heard at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court and Justice of the Peace Court, Sheriff Court House, St Marnock Street, Kilmarnock KA1 1ED, in the Sheriffdom of North Strathclyde. Routine summary motoring business — speeding, careless driving, insurance and licence offences — is generally taken in the Justice of the Peace Court, which has sat in the building since 2010, while drink driving, dangerous driving and cases prosecuted on indictment call before a sheriff. Where a collision has caused a death, the charge of causing death by dangerous driving is prosecuted in the High Court of Justiciary. We appear across all of these courts.
Motoring Offences We Defend in North Ayrshire
Drink Driving and Drug Driving — Scotland's limit of 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood is the lowest in the United Kingdom, and it convicts a great many drivers who felt entirely fit to drive. We examine Intoximeter calibration and maintenance records, the procedure followed at the police station, and whether the hip flask defence is open on the facts. Dangerous Driving — conviction brings disqualification for at least 12 months and a compulsory extended retest, so whether the driving was dangerous or merely careless is very often the whole case. Careless Driving — a question of degree, and one worth arguing rather than conceding. Speeding — the A78 coast road, the A71 towards Kilmarnock, the A736 to Glasgow and the A737 are all routinely enforced; we check device type approval and calibration and whether a Notice of Intended Prosecution was served within 14 days. Totting Up and Exceptional Hardship — at 12 penalty points the court must disqualify for at least 6 months unless exceptional hardship is proved on evidence. Driving Without Insurance — 6 to 8 penalty points or discretionary disqualification. Mobile Phone Offences — 6 penalty points. Driving While Disqualified — a charge carrying a real risk of custody.
Travelling to Work From the Ayrshire Coast
The economics of North Ayrshire make a licence unusually valuable. Employment is concentrated in a handful of places — the chemical and pharmaceutical sites around Irvine and Stevenston, the harbourside and industrial estates, and the retail and care sectors — and a large share of working residents commute out of the county altogether. Rail runs along the coast but not to the industrial estates, and shift patterns rarely match the timetable. Care staff cover rounds from Largs down to Ardrossan and inland to the Garnock valley, and trades and delivery drivers work across the whole of Ayrshire from a van. Where a ban would end your employment, that has to go to the court in evidence — rotas, contract terms, distances and figures. Call 0141 345 5735 and ask about Legal Aid.
Areas Served Across North Ayrshire
We act for drivers charged anywhere in North Ayrshire, including Irvine, Kilwinning, Dreghorn, Springside, Girdle Toll, Bourtreehill, Perceton, Stevenston, Saltcoats, Ardrossan, West Kilbride, Dalry, Kilbirnie, Beith and Largs. Charges commonly arise on the A78, the A71, the A736, the A737 and the A759. Call 0141 345 5735.