A MAN who was caught drink-driving two days after being sentenced for failing to produce a sample has been sentenced to a year and a half in prison.
Tomasz Rafal Pilat (45), who has lived in Jersey since 2005, faces being deported at the end of his sentence.
He had been sentenced in the Magistrate’s Court on 19 June for failing to provide a specimen of breath without a reasonable excuse. He was disqualified from driving for two years and given a 110-hour community service order.
Crown Advocate Carla Carvalho, prosecuting, described how just two days later, on 21 June, he got back into his car and drove to work and in the evening he drove to the Kiosk at Bel Royal, drank three cans of beer and took three painkillers.
On his way back home, he clipped a car driving in the other direction.
The other driver turned his car around and followed him from First Tower to Kensington Place, where he told Pilat to pull over, parking his car in front of Pilat’s to stop him from driving away. When Pilat still tried to leave, he caused more damage to the other car.
Pilat asked not to involve the police and was described as “nervous yet calm and wanted to sort things out in a good way” though his handwriting seemed “off” to the other driver.
Police were called and described how Pilat “smelled of alcohol and had slurred his speech”. His breath test showed 64 micrograms in 100ml of breath, “almost twice” the limit of 35.
He admitted all the charges.
Advocate Estelle Burns, defending, said Pilat’s pre-sentence report “paints the picture of a man who has lost hope and given up”, adding that his drinking had occurred when he was at his lowest.
She added that Pilat, a Polish national, should not be deported from the Island after almost 20 years.
“He can see that his actions were selfish and put others in grave danger, and for that he is remorseful,” she said.
She added that Pilat was sober after some time in custody and hoped to continue not drinking.
The Deputy Bailiff, Robert MacRae, told Pilat: “Not only were you driving whilst disqualified, but you were driving whilst drunk.”
He added: “The pre-sentence report reveals you are an alcoholic and were drinking up to a litre of whiskey a day at the time of your offending.
“The public need to be protected from conduct such as yours and the sentences that the court imposes need to be sufficient to bring home to you and others the seriousness of these driving offences.”
He sentenced Pilat to six months in prison for drink-driving, eight months for driving while disqualified, and five months in place of the community service he was given in June, adding up to 19 months’ imprisonment alongside a three-year disqualification from driving.
The Deputy Bailiff recommended Pilat be deported at the end of his sentence.
The Jurats sitting were Elizabeth Dulake and Michael Entwistle.
