Motorist "so drunk that he fell out his car"

Saturday 29 August 2020

A 52-year-old motorist mounted a pavement - almost hitting a pedestrian - and then fell out of his car when pulled over by police while three times over the drink drive limit.

Leszek Zan was ordered to complete 80 hours of community service for the drink drive offence and a further 40 hours for driving without insurance. He has been disqualified from driving for four years.

The CSO has been given as a direct alternative to six weeks in Les Nicolles Prison. 

Zan was driving a blue Hyundai along Rue De L'eglise, Castel at around 22:20 on Tuesday 4 August when he was spotted by police. He was seen mounting a pavement and narrowly missing a woman walking on it, at which point the police vehicle activated its blue lights and tried to pull Zan over. 

Pictured: Zan was taken into custody after driving erratically in front of a police vehicle. 

He continued for around 200 to 250 metres at "varying speeds" and signalling his indicators "in multiple directions". He then came to a halt, wedging his car up against the roadside wall and falling out of the driver's side door.

Inside the car, police officers found four open beer cans and took Zan into custody. At the police station, his lowest reading was one of 111mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mcg. He was also unable to provide any insurance. 

His Advocate Julia Schaefer said this was the first time her client has been before the Guernsey Courts. Someone close to him, who was self-isolating, had been in a state of "distress" that night and had asked Zan to bring them some groceries.

Pictured: According to the Hatwell guidelines, the legal threshold for sending someone to prison for a drink driving offence is 110mcg - meaning Zan could have been sent to Les Nicolles for the offence. 

Judge Russell Finch said the reading just about exceeded the threshold for a custodial sentence, but decided against one.

"The thing that sticks in my mind in your favour is that you are a good worker, because your boss says so. However, you cannot drive in Guernsey putting other people at risk because you have had too much booze - and uninsured as well.

"Think of the consequences if someone was disabled or worse."

In total, Zan will serve 120 hours of community service and faces a four-year driving ban. "Don't come back here," Judge Finch warned him. "I am not a forgiving man."