AssetID: 55857654
Headline: Lorry driver was six times drink-drive limit on A14 and had whiskey bottles in his cab
Caption: A lorry driver was more than six times the legal drink-drive limit when stopped by police at the wheel of a HGV. Officers found six bottles of whisky in the cab of Darek Smagiel’s vehicle after they pulled him over on the A14 at Fenstanton, in Cambridgeshire. The 55-year-old had been seen swerving across lanes on the dual carriageway and was reported to police on Monday afternoon (July 13). Video footage released by Cambridgeshire Constabulary shows officers following Smagiel and then entering his cab to arrest him, where bottles of liquor can be seen. After reading him his rights and arresting him, an officer told him: “I can smell the liquor in here. As simple as that: you are drunk.” In a roadside breath test, Smagiel blew 221 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, more than six times the legal limit of 35 microgrammes. Two hours after his arrest in custody, he gave an evidential reading of 121. Smagiel, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to drink-driving and dangerous driving at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday (July 14) and was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, and was disqualified from driving for three years. PC James Allen, from the road policing unit, said: “Smagiel’s driving fell far below the standards of a careful and competent river. He put members of the public at risk of a serious collision. “ I would like to thank members of the public who called in to report his driving which has ensured he is now off the roads for a considerable time.”
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