Drink Drivers Charged After Christmas Operation
More than 60 drink-drivers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have been banned from driving for a total of 128 years between them.
That’s the result from court of those arrested in the first two weeks of Hampshire Constabulary’s Christmas drink-drive campaign, Operation Holly.
Between December 1 and 14, officers arrested 107 people for drink-drive offences of whom:
66 pleaded guilty (and 65 were disqualified from driving for a total 128 years and 10 months between them)
12 remain on bail
14 are still going through the courts
15 were released without charge
Eight people blew more than 100mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath (the limit is 35mg). The highest reading was 173mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath (nearly five times the limit).
Chief Superintendent Chris Brown, head of Roads Policing, said: “Every drink-driver we’ve arrested and helped to convict is one more dangerous driver taken off our roads.
“The legal consequences of drink-driving simply aren’t worth it. Many of these people will get the opportunity to go on a course to reduce the length of time for which they’re disqualified. However, losing your licence could mean you lose your job. Eitherway, you’ll certainly find it much more difficult to live your life normally.
“It’s unlikely you’ll get away with it as well. As these convictions show, we catch drivers because we’re out on patrol, looking for suspicious vehicles, because we’re breath-testing people at every opportunity, and because concerned members of the publicare letting us know about drink-drivers.
“I’d like to thank everyone who contacted us with information. Doing so could well have helped save a life.”
Case studies
A 46-year-old man from Winchester was jailed for 12 weeks after pleading guilty to drink driving and driving while disqualified in Farnborough on December 1. He was caught by police trying to change a wheel on his car on a garage forecourt on Bridge Roadand blew 124mg of alcohol per 100ml breath.
A 41-year-old man from Hamble was more than four times over the limit (143mg) when he was involved in a collision on Coach Road, Hamble, on December 2. He left the scene and was located by police at his house. He pleaded guilty to drink driving and failingto stop and was jailed for 14 weeks and disqualified from driving for four years.
A 45-year-old woman tried to drive off drunk from a pub car park in Gosport with her child in the back of the vehicle on December 2. She was prevented from doing so by the other customers who called police. In court she was fined and disqualified fromdriving for 16 months.
A 17-year-old boy was caught riding his moped without lights and swerving into the road on Chilbolton Avenue, Winchester on December 3. When detained by police, he blew 103mg of alcohol per 100ml breath. He pleaded guilty, was fined and disqualified for 18 months.