Man found asleep in car after argument with partner refused to give a breath sample
A MAN was found asleep in the passenger seat of his car on the side of the road in Llanelli after an argument with his wife.
Jake Stephen Young, 33, then failed to give a roadside breath test to police and continued to refuse when taken into custody. He pleaded guilty to failing to provide a specimen of breath when he appeared at Llanelli Magistrates’ Court.
Prosecutor Sian Vaughan said: “Police travelling along the A484 at the Berwick roundabout in Llanelli saw a BMW off the road with the engine running.
“The lights were on inside and the defendant was sat in the passenger seat asleep. His eyes were glazed and speech was slurred. Officers believed he had been drinking but he then refused a roadside breath test.
“He was taken to the Ammanford custody suite and again wilfully refused to give a sample. Police asked him what medical reason he had for not being able to do so and he replied that he couldn’t see. The prosecution fails to see why that was his response.”
Defence solicitor David Elvey said the circumstances of that night were that Young and his partner had been in the car when they argued.
Mr Elvey said: “She was driving the car and they argued. They had been out that night and then she pulled over and called a friend to pick her up and left him there in the car. Police arrived and inquiries were carried out on suspicion of him being drunk in charge of a vehicle with the suspicion he had been the driver.
“He was refusing a sample and what he should have done was given a sample and then set about establishing that he had not, in fact, been driving the car.
“He tells me he couldn’t read documents police were showing him as his glasses were still in the car.”
Young of Waun Fawr, Rassau, Ebbw Vale, an HGV driver by trade, was disqualified for driving for 32 months by the magistrates.
He was also given a 12-month community order comprising 200 hours of unpaid work. Young must also pay £85 court costs and a £90 victim surcharge.