Jason Byrne was twice caught over the alcohol limit this summer, shortly before coming to the end of a ban imposed in September 2007.
Jailing him for two and a half years and imposing a 15-year driving ban for the protection of the public, judge Russell Finch said: ‘You have long left the last chance saloon.’
Guernsey’s Royal Court heard that the the offences were Byrne’s eighth and ninth for drink-driving. He has more than 50 previous convictions for driving offences, including ten for driving while disqualified and 13 for driving without insurance.
In the latest case, the court heard that two police officers were close to the defendant’s home one night in June when they heard a motorbike.
They watched the bike turn into the driveway and the defendant remove his helmet. The officers were aware Byrne was not allowed to drive and arrested him. When breathalysed later, Byrne gave a reading of 66 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 mg.
He was granted bail, but the following month the police pulled over a battered silver BMW and found the defendant behind the wheel.
The 45-year-old admitted that he had been drinking and a breath test showed a reading of 79 mg of alcohol – more than double the legal limit. Byrne was then remanded in custody.
The defendant, who lives in the parish of Castel, later pleaded guilty to two counts of drink-driving, two of driving without insurance and two of driving while disqualified.
Advocate Sam Maindonald, defending, said her client had struggled to understand his actions and thought processes in relation to the offences.
Judge Finch said Byrne’s driving record was appalling, adding that it was one of the worst he had seen.
