Brighton Magistrates’ Court heard Gilbert Kmiecik’s alcohol reading was in the highest bracket when he was stopped by police in St George’s Place, Brighton.
The court was told police received a concerned call from one of the 12 passengers onboard the 52 Big Lemon bus at around 8.30am on December 20 after Kmiecik took a wrong turn.
An alcohol breath test showed Kmiecik, of Mitchelldean in Peacehaven, had 148 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.
The legal limit is 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.
Josie Sonnessa, defending the 57-year-old, told the court on Friday (March 14) that her client was a “hardworking family man” who was “deeply ashamed of his behaviour”.
“He offers absolutely no excuse for his behaviour,” she said.
“He knows he must be punished.
“Fortunately there was no collision.
“He is quite ashamed of what could have happened.”
She added he had no previous convictions and since the incident has engaged with mental health charities.
Kmiecik was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months.
He was ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work and he will be fitted with an alcohol abstinence monitoring tag for 120 days.
And he was also disqualified from driving until December 20, 2026, but this could be reduced by 24 weeks if he completes a drink driving rehabilitation course before May 2026.
He was told to pay £85 to the court in costs and a £154 victim surcharge.
After the hearing in February, a spokeswoman for The Big Lemon said Kmiecik is no longer employed by the company.
“The Big Lemon has a policy of random testing for drugs and alcohol which is regularly reviewed and updated and we have reviewed the policy and carried out additional refresher training following this incident.
“We would like to take this opportunity to apologise to all passengers and members of the public who were put at risk by this driver and reassure passengers that we take our responsibilities in this area very seriously and passenger safety is and always will be our top priority.”
Source link
[Featured]
[Just In]
