Radoslaw Jaroszek, 45, was working near Great Yarmouth seafront in Norfolk when officers received tip-offs from the public that he seemed drunk
An ice cream van driver was nabbed nearly four times over the drink drive limit after concerned customers tipped off the police.
Radoslaw Jaroszek, 45, was serving near Great Yarmouth seafront in Norfolk when officers were alerted by the public who suspected he was intoxicated. The police tracked him on CCTV as he navigated his Ford Transit van through the town before pulling him over for a breathalyser test.
Jaroszek appeared at Great Yarmouth Magistrates’ Court yesterday where he admitted to drink driving. The court heard that Jaroszek was working for Lamarti’s Ice Cream, one of Norfolk’s largest firms, on August 12, during the height of the holiday season. Customers reported him to the police because he seemed “intoxicated” and “impaired” while serving them.
Officers informed the court that once they had located and stopped Jaroszek in his van, around 3.20pm, they “smelt liquor” and observed him being “unsteady on his feet”. He was breathalysed and recorded a reading of 131mg of alcohol – almost four times the legal limit of 35 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath.
The ice-cream man was subsequently taken in for questioning, where the lowest sample of his breath recorded was 105mg. Jaroszek, from Albert Square in Yarmouth, claimed he had only consumed “two pints of beer”.
The Pole, who required a Polish interpreter in court, told his probation officer that he doesn’t usually drink. He explained that he was drinking on this occasion to cope with his depression following his partner’s recent miscarriage.
Jaroszek claimed that in Poland, it was “quite usual” to drink alcohol, and he was unaware of the UK’s strict laws surrounding drink-driving. As a result, magistrates banned him from driving for 25 months, and he was given a 12-month community order.
As part of his sentence, he must complete 100 hours of unpaid work, ten rehabilitation requirement days, and pay £199 in court fees. After his arrest, Jaroszek lost his job at Lamarti’s Ice Cream and remains unemployed.
