Brakes on justice? (From Barry And District News)

Brakes on justice?

AN anti-drink-drive campaigner has slammed the suspended sentence handed out to a Barry man who was caught behind the wheel while more than five times the legal limit on one occasion and almost four times the limit on another.

David Jeremy Grant, aged 46, of Somerset Road West, admitted drink-driving on two occasions - a month and a half apart - when he appeared at Barry Magistrates' Court on February 27.

A sample, taken on January 28, gave a reading of 178 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 milliletres of breath. The limit is 35. A sample, taken on December 14, gave a reading of 304 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 milliletres of blood. The limit is 80.

For the January offence he was sentenced to 120 days in prison, suspended for 18 months. For the December offence he was sentenced to 60 days, suspended for 18 months, and this term will run consecutively to the other.

If he successfully completes a drink-drive rehabilitation course, the ban will be reduced by 15 months.

Sentencing him, magistrates said a custodial sentence was appropriate because of the level of the readings, although they suspended the sentence.

But Carole Whittingham, co-ordinator and national secretary for the Campaign Against Drinking and Driving (CADD), is disgusted with the sentence.

She said: "I am appalled and I totally question Barry magistrates.

"They should have set an example and this man should have been jailed or given the maximum fine of 5,000.

"What sort of message is this sending out to the people of Barry?"

Mrs Whittingham's son was killed by a drink-driver. "I know about it first hand," she added.

"He should have been banned for life."