Alcoholic risked being sent back to prison after drink driving in Sutton

Jaroslaw Eliasz was stopped by police on Kirkby Folly Road after officers spotted him driving without a seat belt, 3.40pm on September 8,

Daniel Pietryka, prosecuting at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court, said officers saw him trying to hide an empty beer can as they approached his Skoda.

A test revealed he had 113 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – the legal limit is 35mcg.

He was jailed for 10 weeks and given a three-year driving ban after his second conviction for driving with excess alcohol, 14 years ago.

Probation officer Greta Percival said Eliasz consumed two very strong beers after finishing work and was driving from his Forest Town home to a scrapyard in Kirkby.

She said he was suffering from alcohol withdrawal, after his drinking had increased during the lockdown.

The father-of-two had asked his GP for help for his drinking, but was ‘not at the stage where he was willing to do something about it’.

Ms Percival said: “If he is willing to make the commitment I would say he is suitable for rehabilitation in the community.”

Eliasz, aged 48, of Fifth Avenue, admitted drink-driving.

He was given a 12-month community order with five rehabilitation days and a six-month alcohol treatment programme, and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £114 surcharge.

He was banned from driving for 26 months, but a rehabiltation course will reduce the disqualification by 26 weeks if he completes it before April 2024.