Crash driver was more than twice the drink limit
The driver of a car that overturned in the early hours of the morning at Les Rouvets, Vale, was more than twice the prescribed alcohol limit.
George Clayton, 25, of Rue de la Saline, Castel, admitted the drink-drive offence when he appeared in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
Prosecuting Advocate Liam Roffey told the court how the defendant had been socialising in Town for the evening with family members.
He told them he would leave his car at the Salerie car park and get a taxi home. At about 2am he called a family member to say he had crashed his car and was feeling dizzy.
The family member said they would go to the crash scene, but by the time they arrived somebody else had called the police. The defendant told officers that nobody else had been in the vehicle.
He was arrested and a test at the Police Station identified 79mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath when the legal limit is 35. He reserved his right to silence in a first interview but then asked to be interviewed again, when he accepted being the driver.
Defending, Advocate Steven Balmer said he assumed his client had reserved his right to silence in the first interview on legal advice.
Police then took swabs from the car which were sent away for analysis.
The results would have taken two to three months to secure, so his client pleaded guilty before they were received.
This offence had been out of character and he was ashamed of his actions. He accepted that he had been extremely lucky to suffer only minor injuries that night. He knew he had put not only himself, but others in danger too.
Judge Gary Perry said this had been a very serious incident.
The defendant was lucky he was not in court with substantial injuries and any member of the public who might have been in the area at the time could have been hurt too.
‘You hit a bank at such speed that your car veered across the road and collided with a wall on the other side, ending up on its roof,’ he said.
‘The photos are an advert in themselves as to why people should not drink and drive.’
Clayton, who had one previous assault conviction, was fined £1,000 and banned from driving for three and half years.
