A CYCLIST who rode his bike after drinking – 20 minutes after being warned not to – has been jailed for five months.
Abdul Mohammed Rahman had “a dreadful record” of previous convictions for similar offences, the Magistrate’s Court was told yesterday. The court heard that non-custodial sentences had failed to prompt a change in his behaviour.
St Saviour Centenier Steven Laffoley-Edwards, prosecuting, said Rahman (49) was spotted riding his bike along Rue du Fort, with no light, at 10.35pm on the evening of 4 October. He was stopped by the police and Mr Laffoley-Edwards said: “He was confrontational, he was unsteady on his feet, his eyes were unfocused and he smelt of intoxicant.”
The police advised him to walk the rest of the way home. Despite this warning, they saw him again at 10.55pm cycling along Green Road and arrested him.
A breath test showed he had 96 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – more than two-and-a-half times the legal maximum of 35 micrograms.
Advocate Heidi Heath, defending, pointed out that Rahman now took a bus to and from work, telling the court: “He is not getting on a bike any more.”
She said her client had asked for “one more chance”. But the court heard he had previous convictions for drink-driving from 1999 and 2019, and for failing to provide a specimen to the police last year and in June this year.
Handing down the court’s sentence, Assistant Magistrate Adam Clarke told the defendant: “You have a dreadful record. You have received community service orders, you have received probation orders, and it does not appear that they have prevented you from ongoing offending.”
