"This isn't going to look good in court..."

Wednesday 28 October 2020

A 27-year-old who ran away and hid behind a bush when he was pulled over by police for drink driving has been given a lengthy community service order and banned from driving for four years.

Samuel McKenzie was spotted by officers driving a company-branded van in Town at 01:30 on 27 September.

They noticed he was swerving in the road, so decided to follow him up Le Bordage.

When he noticed the police car behind him, the defendant sped up, so the officers turned on their blue lights to signal him to stop.

He carried on driving for about 15 seconds before pulling over in Trinity Square.

Pictured: The defendant pulled over in Trinity Square after being pursued by police. 

However, as soon as he'd stopped, he got out of the van and ran away. He was later found in Charroterie Mills where he was on the phone, hiding behind a bush. One of the officers deployed his baton to make sure the defendant complied with instructions, at which point he said to the person on the other end of the phone: "this isn't going to look good in court."

McKenzie was taken to the police station and breathalysed. His reading came up as 98 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath - nearly three times the legal limit of 35mcg. 

"I've been doing this for a while now," he told the officers. "I thought I'd get caught eventually."

Judge Russell Finch later described that comment as "one of the most stupid comments to the police that I've heard in a long time," though he did say McKenzie's "naivety" was "to his credit".

Pictured: The defendant's breath reading was nearly three times the legal limit.

The defendant does have relevant previous convictions, including driving offences. Duty Defence Advocate David Domaille said the defendant had been "very concerned about the offence."

The Advocate said McKenzie had decided to run out of "sheer panic" and was "embarrassed" to find himself in court once again.

"It was a very impulsive decision which he very much regrets," he added. "He's very upset and fearing the worst. This was very poor decision making on his part."

Pictured: The defendant was concerned he might end up in prison. 

However, Judge Finch decided to give the defendant another chance rather than send him to prison.

"You have a right to be embarrassed," he told McKenzie. "Now you can put something back to the community that you put at risk with your driving."

McKenzie was sentenced to 120 hours of community service and given a four year driving ban.

"You're not going down the steps today but one more problem with driving and you will do," Judge Finch concluded.