A27 drink-driver attempted to swallow his key after being caught

A drink-driver who attempted to swallow his key after being caught more than three times the legal limit has been convicted, according to police.
Police SUS-150806-131320001Police SUS-150806-131320001
Police SUS-150806-131320001

At about 8.30pm on Saturday June 24, police said officers received reports of a white Mercedes Sprinter being driven erratically on the A27 westbound through Arundel.

Police said the van continued on the dual carriageway towards Chichester, before it turned into St James Industrial Estate, where it was abandoned.

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Officers said they located the suspect down an alleyway a short time later, at which point he placed his van key in his mouth and attempted to swallow it.

Concerned for his welfare, police restrained the man and made him spit out the key. After failing a roadside breath test, he was then arrested on suspicion of drink-driving.

Daniel Sargent, 26, a courier, of East Cosham Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire, was charged with driving with 107mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath in his system. The legal limit is 35mcg.

At Worthing Magistrates’ Court on 11 July, he was disqualified from driving for 24 months. He was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work, and pay £85 costs and a £85 victim surcharge.

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A total of 150 motorists were arrested in Sussex as part of Surrey and Sussex Police’s summer crackdown on drink and drug-drivers, which ran from 1 June to July 1. Sargent is among the latest to be convicted in court.

People in Sussex can text officers on 65999 with the details of people they suspect of drink or drug-driving, or visit the Operation Crackdown website.

You can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

If you know someone is driving while over the limit or after taking drugs, call 999.

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