Car seized after dangerous driving

Friday 27 November 2020

A 25-year-old has lost an Audi he purchased for £6,200 just a few months ago after he was caught driving it at 94mph along L'Ancresse Road.

Police officers carrying out speeds checks in the area on 21 October heard Krisiyan Orlinov Sevdalinov's car before they saw it.

It was 23:20 when officers heard the swift acceleration and change of gears before seeing the red Audi Quattro S3 approaching from the direction of the Vale Church. It was clocked at 94mph as it zoomed past them. 

Police followed the vehicle, which came to a stop, at which point they realised that Sevdalinov was not wearing his seatbelt. 

Sevdalinov said he was testing the vehicle as he had only recently purchased it for £6,200 and it had been at a garage for a long time. He had bought the car two months earlier and was planning to take it to Bulgaria when he returned home for four weeks later that month to give it to his father. 

The Crown Prosecutor Fiona Russell made an application for the forfeiture of the vehicle, which is uncommon but was approved in another case of dangerous driving last month.

Defence Advocate Sam Steel admitted it was a "ludicrous" speed to drive, but said the defendant had slowed down to 20mph before taking the right hand turn. Sevdalinov said he thought he was only driving at 50 - 60mph along L'Ancresse, as he was focussing on the road ahead rather than the speedometer. 

Pictured: Sevdalinov claimed that he did not realise how fast he was driving. 

Advocate Steel said it was his client's first criminal conviction and that it had been an alarming wake-up call for him. He described Sevdalinov as a hard-working young man who moved here in 2019 and works from 08:00 to 00:00 every day in order to provide financial support to his parents. 

He was judged by Probation to have a low likelihood of re-offending. Advocate Steel suggested a community service order -  which would serve as a penalty in itself by reducing the number of working hours available to his client - instead of a term of imprisonment.

Advocate Steel urged the Court to consider the value of the car and apply the totality principle to Sevdalinov's sentence if the forfeiture application was approved. 

There was little to be said in mitigation of the offence itself: "He found himself in a long, quiet road and he put his foot down. It seemed to be a moment of madness."

Following a lengthy deliberation, Judge Graeme McKerrell decided to approve the forfeiture application, as he said the defendant's behaviour behind the wheel had been beyond belief.

"The words idiotic, immature and irresponsible all come to mind. Another is incredible."

Pictured: Had it not been for the forfeiture application, Judge McKerrell said he was alternatively weighing up a two-month prison sentence. 

"There can be no justification for driving at 94mph at any time of day or night."

Judge McKerrell said Sevdalinov's argument that he did not realise how fast he was accelerating to "strained the grounds of credulity", especially on Guernsey's roads.

"I came to work this morning fully intending to send you to prison immediately," he told the defendant. In view of the forfeiture application, he decided to combine that punishment with a community service order instead.

As well as forfeiting the Audi to Guernsey Police, Sevdalinov will have to carry out 90 hours of unpaid work and has been disqualified from driving in Guernsey for 15 months. 

"This was a crazy, crazy speed and such an order is justified," Judge McKerrell concluded.