A 40-YEAR-OLD man who drove his vehicle while over the legal alcohol limit, crashed it into a granite wall and abandoned it has been warned he could go to jail.
The Magistrate’s Court was told that the police were called to the crash scene in Grouville just before 10pm on 29 September and found Lee Kevin Swift’s white van on the wrong side of Route de la Hougue Bie, facing oncoming traffic,and with extensive damage to the near side.
No one was in the vehicle, but Crown Advocate Katie Ridley, prosecuting, said officers found Swift’s mobile phone there.
When they went to his home he at first claimed he had taken a taxi back from the Five Oaks pub that night, but later admitted he had driven.
“He smelt of alcohol and was having difficulty standing still,” Advocate Ridley added.
A breath test at police headquarters gave a reading of 70 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal maximum is 35 millilitres.
Swift admitted drinking and driving and failing to report an accident, and said: “I’ve let a lot of people down.”
The Magistrate, Bridget Shaw, told him: “You put the public at considerable risk.
“It was a bad accident and you didn’t take responsibility for it. You effectively ran away. I’m thinking about custody.”
She released Swift on bail until 1 December to allow for a background report and imposed an interim driving ban.
