Video shows drug-dazed driver from Brighton on his journey to the cells

Police have released a video showing a drug-dazed driver make the journey from just before his arrest to a night in the cells.

Neil El-Komboz, 30, of Ditchling Rise, Brighton, lurched around Asda at Brighton Marina at about 4.20am just before Christmas.

El-Komboz and a friend then got into his green Volkswagen Golf outside the store and drove to the nearby McDonald’s so police were called.

When officers arrived they found his car abandoned across two bays in the car park and the two men in McDonald’s.

El-Komboz’s friend said that they had gone to McDonald’s only because the driver was tired.

But El-Komboz was unable to drink his cup of coffee without spilling it, his speech was slurred, his pupils were like pin-pricks and he could not stand without rocking.

When officers arrested El-Komboz he said that he had lied earlier about not taking any drugs. He admitted that he had in fact taken crack cocaine, heroin and valium.

The police footage shows him being spoken to in McDonald’s, arrested and then going through the custody process before he was finally laid down on a mattress in a cell to sleep. It has been posted on YouTube.

The day before his 30th birthday El-Komboz appeared at Brighton Magistrates’ Courrt where he pleaded guilty to drug driving.

He was banned from driving for 16 months, fined £110 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £20 victim surcharge.

Sussex Police said that it was releasing the video in the run up to the start of this summer’s drink and drug driving crackdown.

The force said that it highlighted how an offender’s day would finish if they were caught.

As part of Operation Dragonfly – the year-round strategy to remove drink and drug drivers from the roads – road policing unit officers will be on dedicated patrols looking for offenders.

In previous campaigns Sussex Police named all those charged with drink or drug driving offences that were committed during the month-long crackdown.

In addition, this year the force will be releasing footage of convicted offenders that shows the state they were in when they got behind the wheel.

The videos will show, the force said, how important it was that they were banned from the roads before they hurt anyone.

Chief Inspector Phil Nicholas said: “Everyone knows that there are people who will get behind the wheel after drinking or taking drugs without thinking about the consequences.

“It is only when you see the condition that some of those arrested are in that it really hits home how dangerous their behaviour is.

“We have found motorists who couldn’t stand, who couldn’t talk and some who struggled even to open their eyes when we pulled them over.

“People who drink or take drugs and get behind the wheel have slower reaction times, struggle to concentrate and can behave more erratically on the roads, putting both themselves and other people in danger.

“We will not tolerate drug driving and would urge anyone who thinks they know someone who is driving after taking drugs to contact us urgently so that we can act.”

The campaign is being run jointly by Sussex Police and Surrey Police alongside the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership and the independent charity Crimestoppers.

In June last year Sussex Police arrested 143 people during the month-long campaign.

Officers will respond to tip-offs from members of the public who see someone they know has been drinking getting into a car to drive.

Stop checks will also be set up, in particular at locations where there is intelligence that there has been a history of drink driving.

Officers will also tweet about people stopped on suspicion of drink or drug-driving offences throughout the month, giving brief details such as when and where the motorists were pulled over.

Neil El-Komboz was one of those caught in the December 2014 Operation Dragonfly campaign.