Haverhill man caught driving whilst three times over the limit jailed
He was also given a five-year driving ban and ordered to pay £233 in costs.
A 33-year-old man from Haverhill has been jailed after being caught driving whilst more than three times the legal limit, along with other motoring offences in the town.
Andrius Bartninkas appeared before Ipswich Magistrates’ Court yesterday, Monday 13 December, where he was sentenced to 20 weeks’ imprisonment, given a five-year driving ban and ordered to pay £233 in costs.
Bartninkas, of Ash Grove in Haverhill, pleaded guilty to the following four offences: driving with excess alcohol; driving whilst disqualified; driving without insurance; and driving without a valid MOT test certificate.
The incident occurred at around 1.30am on Saturday 11 December, when officers on patrol in Haverhill were passed by a Volkswagen Golf which was being driven in an erratic manner.
The officers drove behind the vehicle and then signalled for the driver to stop in Withersfield Road, which he initially failed to do comply with, before he pulled over in Eastern Avenue - almost colliding with a parked vehicle in the process.
The officers approached the vehicle where they found Bartninkas in the driver’s seat. He was asked to take a roadside breath test which he failed and further checks then revealed he was a disqualified driver, which in turn meant he was uninsured. The vehicle also did not have a valid MOT test certificate.
Bartninkas was arrested and taken to Bury St Edmunds Police Investigation Centre, where he failed a further breath test providing a sample of 111 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath (the legal limit is 35mg in 100ml).
During his appearance before magistrates yesterday, the court heard that this was his third drink-driving conviction and he was currently subject of a four-year driving disqualification imposed in February of last year.
Inspector Gary Miller, of the Roads and Armed Policing Team, said: “Andrius Bartninkas can now be described as a serial drink-driver, having been convicted for a third time.
“I find it staggering that someone can be so reckless once – let alone on three occasions – and to drive while more than three times the limit is not only extremely idiotic and dangerous, it is a serious risk to life. The court was left with no option but to send him to prison.
“This was a great piece of proactive police work by the officers who stopped Bartninkas and they very likely prevented him from causing a collision. People should not think that just because it is the middle of the night they can get away with this sort of behaviour, because our officers are around 24/7.
“We are almost half-way through the Christmas drink and drug-driving campaign and I am extremely disappointed to find people continuing to take these unnecessary risks. Our message is clear, it is not worth it and there is no excuse.”