Albino Viveiros De Olim (52), who lives in St Helier and has no previous convictions, appeared in the Magistrate’s Court this week and was told that he could have faced eight months in prison.
The court heard that at about 5pm on 28 November last year the States police received a call from a member of public saying they had seen a white Citroën weaving all over the road and feared there could be a collision.
Soon after, an officer spotted De Olim’s car turning into the car park opposite the Co-op at Georgetown.
He was arrested and taken to police headquarters where he was breathalysed and provided a reading of 112mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.
Advocate Katie Ridley, prosecuting, said that as the offences had taken place on a Saturday afternoon, it was highly likely there would have been pedestrians present.
Advocate Mark Boothman, defending, said he accepted that the offences crossed the custody threshold but urged the court to impose a term of community service instead. He added that his client was remorseful and deeply ashamed of his actions.
‘The reality is that this is a strange set of circumstances for a 51-year-old man with no previous offences to find himself in. He finds himself having a number of drinks and then choosing to drive. It is difficult to understand why but it appears that, since the outbreak of Covid-19 in March 2020, he has been under pressure and is the sole financial provider for him and his partner,’ he said.
‘The pressures of life in the past 12 months caused him to make a series of poor decisions and that is what led to him driving that day.’
Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris ordered De Olim to complete 140 hours’ community service and banned him from driving for three years.
‘For someone in their 50s, who has never been in trouble with the police before, I accept this was out of character but it had nothing to do with the virus or the lockdown. You should not have driven after consuming alcohol and the reading was very high,’ he said.
‘You can clearly go to prison for this but, primarily because you have a lack of any convictions at all, you will avoid prison today. The fact that your partner relies on you is not relevant at all.’
