Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Indictable Only definition

What does Indictable Only mean? In practice, “indictable only” describes an offence that cannot be tried in a magistrates’/District Court and must proceed to a higher court for jury trial on indictment. England and Wales: indictable-only offences are tried in the Crown Court. On first appearance, the magistrates’ court has no power to try or allocate the case and must send it to the Crown Court under section 51 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (the plea is entered in the Crown Court). This label is used in legislation and practice to denote the most serious crimes. Northern Ireland: such offences are triable only in...

RTA 1988 s 3A: Causing Death by Careless Driving while Under the Influence - Elements, Evidence, Alternative Verdicts and Sentencing (England and Wales)

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Practice notes

This conduct constitutes an offence under section 3A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (RTA 1988). It is an indictable only offence and therefore can be tried solely in the Crown Court.

The elements of the offence

A person commits the offence where they:

cause the death of another person
by driving
a mechanically propelled vehicle
on a road or other public place
without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other persons using that road or place
and, in addition, any of the following applies:
- at the time of driving they were unfit to drive through drink or drugs
- the level of alcohol or drugs in their blood exceeds the legal limit
- they refuse to provide a specimen of blood or urine as required, or
- without reasonable excuse, they refuse to consent to a laboratory test of a specimen of blood that has been taken

Causing the death of another person

The prosecution must also prove that the manner of driving alleged caused the death in question. The causation test is the same as that used for causing death by dangerous driving...

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Alex McHugh

Pump Court Chambers

Alex McHugh joined Pump Court Chambers following successful completion of his pupillage. His key areas of practice are criminal defence, family, and landlord & tenant disputes. Prior to joining Chambers, Alex worked as a paralegal for a number of years at a Legal 500 firm in London. Two of those years were spent in crime under the stewardship of extremely experienced senior partners. Alex helped manage cases from beginning to end and represented all manner of clients in respect of a full range of alleged offences. As counsel, Alex defends his clients throughout every stage of proceedings. Alex accepts private and, where applicable, publicly funded briefs on road traffic offences, and has experience in representing clients in relation to speeding, drinking driving, “totting up”, and causing injury by dangerous driving offences. Alex predominantly works across the Western Circuit, London, and the South East. ...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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