Delivery driver drinking vodka caught after van breaks down

Police officers helping a delivery driver who had broken down on a busy city road discovered that he was drunk on vodka. Mzengi Mumba, 26, had been driving in Waterloo Way, in Leicester city centre[1], when his Peugeot van broke down under the New Walk footbridge. Leicestershire Police[2] who stopped at the scene did a breath test after suspecting Mumba had been drinking and found he was more than twice the legal drink-driving limit.

He was taken to a police station and interviewed and admitted drinking vodka while driving around. At Leicester Magistrates' Court[3] on Thursday he pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol. Prosecutor Peter Bettany told the court: "On November 6 his van stopped working under the footbridge in Waterloo Way.

"He told officers the car had died and it was noticed he had been drinking and he gave a positive roadside sample." At the police station, Mumba gave a breathalyser reading of 74 microgrammes of alcohol per 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Explaining what Mumba had said in the police interview, Mr Bettany said: "He was feeling cocky and decided to buy a small bottle of vodka - 350ml. He admitted that if his car had recovered he would have continued on his way." Representing himself in court, Mumba, of Tilbury Crescent, Hamilton[5], Leicester, told the magistrates he agreed with everything the prosecutor had said.

He said he had quit his delivery driver job, knowing he was going to lose his licence but had since got a new job that did not require him to have a licence.

He was banned from driving for 17 months.

He was also fined GBP440 and ordered to pay GBP85 court costs and a GBP176 victim surcharge.

References

1. ^ Leicester city centre (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
2. ^ Leicestershire Police (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
3. ^ Leicester Magistrates' Court (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
4. ^ Obsessed woman who tried to poison man with sleeping pills and paracetamol avoids jail (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
5. ^ Hamilton (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)