Barrow carer caused car crash whilst driving over legal alcohol limit
Oluwafemi Abiola, of Sloop Street in Barrow[1], pleaded guilty to driving while over the legal alcohol limit when he appeared at South Cumbria Magistrates Court on December 11. Peter Kelly, prosecuting the case, told magistrates how police were called to a two-vehicle road traffic collision involving this defendant’s Toyota Corolla on Parkhouse Road in Barrow on November 22 this year. Police deemed it appropriate for the defendant to provide a specimen of breath at the roadside which came back positive.
The lowest reading was 49 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes. The court heard the 30-year-old man was not known to police and had no previous convictions.
Abiola’s barrister Elizabeth Phizacklea told the court: “He had wine the night before and was on his way to collect a work colleague when the incident occurred. “He is a carer who visits people who are unable to care for themselves. A disqualification from driving will have a huge impact on his employment.”
Disqualifying the defendant from driving for a period of 14 months, chairman of the bench Charles Crewdson said: “It must have been quite a lot of wine you were drinking that night for the reading still to be that high in the morning.”
Magistrates also ordered Abiola to pay a GBP276 fine, GBP110 surcharge and GBP85 in court costs.
He was offered a drink driving rehabilitation course.