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Arrested for drink-driving while on bail for a similar offence

A few months after entering a not guilty plea to drinking and driving, Mateusz Glaz was arrested again for a similar offence, and this time his breath reading was even higher, the Magistrate’s Court heard.

Judge Gary Perry said the defendant would have been told by the Royal Court that committing any offence would have put him in breach of the CSO.
Judge Gary Perry said the defendant would have been told by the Royal Court that committing any offence would have put him in breach of the CSO. / Guernsey Press

Glaz, 35, of Rue De Picquerel, Vale, later changed his plea to the first charge and entered a guilty plea to the second.

Crown Advocate Fiona Russell, prosecuting, told the court that Glaz was first arrested in early February this year after he drove to Beeton’s fish and chip shop at about 9pm and an assistant contacted police because they thought Glaz had been drinking.

Officers spoke to him at his home later and he gave a roadside breath test which returned a result of 67mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath – almost twice the legal limit.

He gave the same reading in an evidential breath test at the police station.

Glaz entered a not guilty plea to the offence when he appeared in court in March and was granted bail.

But in late June he was arrested again after a motorist saw Glaz driving erratically and watched as he mounted the pavement and hit a traffic cone near roadworks.

The other driver called police and officers once again visited Glaz at home where he failed a roadside breath test and was arrested.

The breath test at the police station gave a reading of 99mcg.

Glaz told officers he had got up at about 7am and had a drink but had not eaten anything.

He had driven to go to a supermarket to buy food as well as lager and vodka. He had felt all right to drive.

He had previous convictions, including for importation and possession of class C drugs for which he was sentenced by the Royal Court in April last year to 240 hours of community service order and a six-months prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Advocate Paul Lockwood, defending, said it would be for the higher court to deal with Glaz being arrested while still being subject to this sentence.

Glaz had denied the first charge because he thought he could have availed himself of a legal defence but the advocate had advised him to change his plea.

He was employed as a carer, looking after some of the island’s most vulnerable people, and he was perturbed at the thought of losing that career if he was sent to prison.

These offences had made clear to him that he was not able to drink alcohol and that his judgment was impaired when he did so.

He had, albeit belatedly, shown insight and demonstrated remorse and decided to abstain from alcohol.

Judge Gary Perry said the defendant would have been told by the Royal Court that committing any offence would have put him in breach of the CSO.

And the fact that he had been arrested for drink-driving while on bail for a similar offence would lead to a custodial sentence, he said.

Glaz was sentenced to two months in prison for the second offence and banned from driving for four years.

For the first offence a sentence of one month in prison, concurrent, and an 18-month ban, also concurrent, were handed down.