A 19-YEAR-OLD student, who crashed his car while drink-driving, removed its number plates and buried them to try to avoid being identified.
George Liam Wright drove along Grande Route des Sablons in the early hours of 10 June while over the legal alcohol limit.
St Saviour Centenier Steven Laffoley-Edwards, prosecuting, said that at 2.10am a witness heard a loud bang as Wright’s blue Ford Fiesta hit a wall.
‘The vehicle was described as smashed up,’ he said. ‘There was significant damage to the front and moderate damage to the rear.’
Wright was then spotted removing the number plates and leaving the scene, after which he buried them in the sand at Grouville.
States police arrived at the scene at 2.15am, with Wright ultimately returning to the vehicle and being asked to take a roadside breath test, which gave a reading of 46 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal maximum is 35 micrograms.
At police headquarters he also gave a blood sample, which showed 90 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.
The maximum allowed is 80 milligrams. He admitted the charge of drinking and driving.
Advocate Allana Binnie, defending, said the offence was ‘completely out of character’.
She said: ‘He had been driving for just five minutes when he realised it was a bad idea and had been stupid.’
The number plates could not be found. Of their removal and burial, Advocate Binnie said: ‘It was done out of panic and stupidity and he very much regrets that.’
She added: ‘There was minimal damage to the wall. It was the car that bore the brunt of the damage.’
The Magistrate, Bridget Shaw, fined Wight £1,600 and banned him from driving for 15 months.
She told him: ‘Young people sometimes do things they wouldn’t do if they were older and wiser, but this is a serious matter.’
He will have to retake the driving test before being allowed back on the roads.
