Three men have been banned from the road after being caught drink driving in Brighton and Hove during the annual Christmas and new year crackdown by Sussex Police.
Social worker Zslot Schmidt, 35, of Woodbourne Avenue, Brighton, was arrested in nearby Carden Hill, Brighton, on Sunday 17 December after crashing his silver Honda Civic into five parked cars.
He was breathalysed and charged with driving with 89 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath – more than twice the legal limit of 35 micrograms.
Schmidt was banned for 20 months after he admitted drink driving when he appeared at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 18 January,
He was also sentenced to a 12-month community order during which time he must carry out 90 hours of unpaid work. In addition, he was ordered to pay £85 costs and an £85 victim surcharge.
Cardiff City footballer Ibrahim Meité, 21, was arrested after being caught over the limit at the wheel of his white Mercedes in Dyke Road Avenue, Hove.
The striker was on loan to Crawley Town when he was stopped on Sunday 31 December. He has since returned to Cardiff.
Meité, of Sherfield Gardens, Wandsworth, London, admitted driving with 62 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath.
He was banned from driving for 17 months at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 18 January. He was also ordered to pay a £380 fine, £85 costs and a £38 victim surcharge.
Danial Mohammadi, 23, a Brighton University student, of St Aubyns, Hove, was arrested in Fox Way, Portslade, on Monday 1 January.
He was charged with driving with 63 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath after crashing his Renault Megane.
At Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 18 January, he was banned from driving for 17 months. He was also ordered to pay a £215 fine, £85 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.
Superintendent Chris Moon, head of the Surrey and Sussex Roads Policing Unit, said: “The only way you can safely guarantee you are under the limit is to consume zero alcohol.
“If you’re going to an event where you’ll be having a drink – even if it’s just one – plan ahead and make the necessary arrangements to ensure you’re not in a position where there’s a chance you could be over the limit. Book a taxi, take public transport or arrange a lift with someone who is sober.
“All too often people assume it is acceptable to drive having had ‘just one drink’. However if you are stopped, breathalysed and blow over the limit, there is no defence for ‘just one drink’.
“Alcohol affects people in different ways, and our advice to stay safe is to drink or drive – never both.
“Anyone planning to drive the morning after drinking is advised to wait at least one hour per unit of alcohol consumed before they do so. This is approximately the time it takes for the body to process alcohol.”
Superintendent Moon added: “Alcohol takes time to process and leave your body. This means if you drink at lunch time, you may be unfit to drive that evening. Or if you drink in the evening, you may be unfit to drive the next morning.
“There’s no quick way of sobering up. Drinking coffee or taking a cold shower won’t help. If you are in any doubt, don’t drive. We can assure you it’s not worth the risk.”
Sussex Police said that a total of 195 arrests were made during the campaign which ran from Friday 1 December to Monday 1 January inclusive.
Of those, 75 have so far been convicted. A further 30 have been charged to appear before magistrates. The rest have either been released without charge, bailed or released under investigation.
2 of the 3 cases in the article were only caught because they crashed; that’s a very worrying statistic.