A 28-year-old man that caused significant damage to 8 vehicles as he drove through the streets of Newport whilst almost 3x the drink-drive limit has been disqualified from driving for 25 months.
Marcus Bienek, of Royal Exchange in Newport, appeared before the Isle of Wight Magistrates Court on Tuesday following the incident on 27th November.
The court heard that Police were called to Castle Road at 21:24 to reports of a collision involving a red Fiat van and 3 parked cars – a Vauxhall Zafira, a Skoda Fabia and an Audi A3. Officers arrived and located Bienek at the scene, who went on to provide a positive breath test. He also made admissions that he knew he would be over the limit.
Liz Miller, prosecuting, told the bench that it has since emerged a total of 8 vehicles were damaged across 3 streets – Lugley Street, Caesers Road and Castle Road. It was at Castle Road that Bienek damaged his own vehicle, preventing him from travelling any further.
Lee Peckham, defending, explained to the court that his client has suffered nightmares about injuring people whilst driving since the crash occurred and that he has serious remorse for his actions. Mr Peckham explained that Bienek had been working on his campervan on the day in question when he was then invited for drinks at The Castle pub. He had no intention to drink-drive but did so, although Mr Peckham said his client was not quite sure where he was driving to.
The court also heard from Mr Peckahm that Bienek, who works at Sydenhams, had been self-medicating for his mental health difficulties.
In their sentencing, Magistrates said that a considerable amount of damage had been caused and that Bienek was lucky he didn’t kill somebody. They handed the 28-year-old a 25-month driving ban and made him subject to a 12-month community order with 120 hours of unpaid work attached. They also ordered him to pay £85 costs with a £95 surcharge.
VIDEO: Members of the public spotted Bienek on Lugley Street in Newport, taking out their phones to record his actions
Pathetic sentence should be banned for life. I see the usual trite “mental health issues” defence was trotted out. Yeah sure, whatever.
Should have called himself Katie Price then he would have got away with it. He got a tougher punishment than her and she was on a ban and had no insurance