Drink drive courses reduce offending

The Northern Ireland Drink Driving Reconviction Analysis of those referred onto a Course for Drink Driving Offenders (2001-2009) has been published.

The Report shows that a greater proportion of females (35%) than males (31%) who were referred onto a course for drink drive offenders opted to attend and complete a course.

Among offenders who had completed the course, 7.0% were reconvicted of a subsequent drink drive offence compared to 11.4% who did not complete a course. In other words, the likelihood of reconviction was 1.6 times higher if the offender didn’t complete a course.

Whilst there was no gender difference in the likelihood of being reconvicted for all those who completed a course, males who did not complete a course were found to be 1.7 times more likely to reoffend than females who did not complete a course.

Up to two years (24 months) after their original conviction, 1.9% of offenders who had completed a course had been reconvicted of a subsequent drink/drive offence, compared with 6.2% of those who did not complete a course. This represents a reconviction rate that is 3.3 times higher for offenders who did not complete a course compared with those who did.

Up to three years (36 months) after their original conviction, 3.4% of offenders who had completed a course had been reconvicted of a subsequent drink/drive offence, compared with 8.0% of those who did not complete a course. This equates to a reconviction rate that is 2.3 times higher for offenders who did not complete a course compared with those who did.

The effectiveness of the courses in NI appears to broadly reflect the experience in GB where it was similarly observed that the largest impact occurs in the first two years following initial conviction.

The Report can be accessed on the CSRB website

Notes to editors:

1. Data included in this report is derived from the PBNI referral database (CDDO) which holds details of all persons convicted of a relevant drink drive offence, and the Causeway Criminal Record Viewer (CRV) which records information of all offences and disposals in all NI courts.

2. A matching exercise was conducted to match the CDDO and CRV data sets and was successful in matching 4,637 out of 5,967 cases – a match of 78%.

3. The results presented in this report cover a discreet study period and could be regarded as a sample of all persons who have been referred onto a course for drink drive offenders. As such the results will be subject to a degree of sampling error. However, only those results which are statistically significant have been highlighted in the report.

Additional Information

Electronic copies of this bulletin and the full Northern Ireland Drink Driving Reconviction Analysis of those referred onto a Course for Drink Driving Offenders (2001-2009) report are available from:

Central Statistics and Research Branch,
Room 4.02, Clarence Court,
10 - 18 Adelaide Street,
Belfast, BT2 8GB

Tel: (028) 9054 0808
Fax: (028) 9054 0782
E-mail: csrb@drdni.gov.uk

4.Media enquiries should be directed to the DOE Press Office on 028 9054 0003. Out of office hours, please contact the duty press officer on pager 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.