Found "intoxicated" in his car

Sunday 14 June 2020

A 41-year-old man is spending six weeks behind bars after he was found drinking beer inside his car at Bordeaux Harbour.

Gavin Anthony Gilbert was sentenced to six weeks in prison and four years off the roads for two counts of drink driving when he appeared before the Magistrate's Court last week.

Guernsey Police found Gilbert drinking from a can of Carlsberg in his car by Bordeaux Harbour at around 08:30 on 12 May.

He told police that he had drunk several cans of beer the night before and got a few hours of sleep before getting a lift to Candie Cache stores at around 06:30 in the morning, where he purchased a four-pack of Carlsberg.

He then drove to the car park by Bordeaux Car Park, where he drunk three-and-a-half cans before the officers found him inside his vehicle in a state of intoxication.

His keys were still in the ignition but he said he planned to "sleep it off" before he drove again.

He produced a reading 116 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath, more than three times the drink drive limit. 

His Advocate Julia Schaefer said her client had a long history of alcohol issues and was experiencing some difficult problems in his life. He had no relevant offences on his record since 2005.

He was charged with driving to Bordeaux Harbour while over the limit and being in charge of a vehicle, at the car park, while over the drink drive limit.

Although he had clearly consumed more alcohol while parked by the harbour, Judge Graeme McKerrell sentenced Gilbert on the basis that he still would have been over the limit, and by "some margin", when he drove there due to the alcohol in his system from the night before. 

Even taking this into account, he said the "overlap" between the two charges made it a "slightly unusual" case.

Judge McKerrell decided on a sentence of six weeks in prison and a four-year driving ban, which was for being in charge of a vehicle while other the limit, which attracted the highest sentence out of the two charges.