A “white van man” has been jailed after being caught in Brighton with more than five times as much alcohol in his body as the law allows.
Jason Sammes, 51, was arrested in a white Volkswagen Transporter van in Warren Road, Brighton.
The carpenter, of Seaside, Eastbourne, admitted drink driving and driving with no insurance when he appeared before District Judge Amanda Kelly at Brighton Magistrates’ Court.
She was told that when Sammes was tested, at the end of June, he had 180 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.
He was jailed for 22 weeks and banned from driving for three years. He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £122.
Another man who was caught drink driving in Brighton threw a cup of coffee over a police officer after he was arrested.
Police stopped Gregory Moran, 32, of Hillside, Welwyn Garden City, in a red Renault Megane in Grand Parade, Brighton.
Sussex Police said: “At around 1pm on (Sunday) 12 July, police on patrol in Grand Parade, Brighton, became aware of an argument involving a man and a woman in a Renault Megane.
“He was identified as Gregory Moran, a railway employee, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.
“The 32-year-old was arrested and placed in the back of the police vehicle, at which point he picked up a cold cup of coffee from the centre console and threw it at one of the arresting officers.
“He was subsequently arrested and charged with driving with 75 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath – the legal limit being 35 micrograms – assaulting an emergency worker and obstructing police in the execution of their duty.
“At Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 3 September, Moran was convicted of all three offences.”
He was banned from driving for 20 months, fined a total of £1,106 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £110 victim surcharge, making £1,301 in all.
Sammes and Moran were among 83 drivers arrested by Sussex Police during the annual summer crackdown on drink and drug drivers which ran from Monday 29 June to Sunday 12 July.
The force said: “Of those, seven have since been convicted in court. The remainder have been charged, released under investigation or released without charge.”
