Crawley man banned from driving after incidents in Southwater and Crawley

A Sussex Police statement says that Carlo Poceschi was seen driving erratically in his Ford Fiesta on the A24 at Southwater shortly before 8pm on March 12.

Officers saw him driving slowly and serving from lane to lane so pulled him over.

The statement adds that Poceschi struggled to walk so officers used a new DrugWipe roadside testing kit which confirmed that he had cocaine in his system.

He was arrested but refused to provide a sample that would have allowed officers to confirm whether or not he had an illegal level of drugs in his bloodstream. Poceschi was then charged with failing to provuide a specimen for analysis and was released on bail.

The statement goes on to say that less than two weeks later, Poceschi was found sat behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta that had collided with a van at 7.50am on 25 March in Balcombe Road, Crawley.

He was unable to follow basic requests at the roadside so was arrested but then refused to answer questions in custody and failed to provide a specimen for analysis.

Poceschi, of The Green, Crawley, pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to provide a specimen when he appeared at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on Thursday June 4.

He was banned from driving for 24 months, fined £220 and ordered to pay £100 costs and a £20 victim surcharge.

As part of Operation Dragonfly, road policing unit officers are on dedicated patrols looking for offenders throughout June.

Teams are responding to tip-offs from members of the public who see someone they know has been drinking getting into a car to drive.

Stop checks are also being set up at locations across Sussex and Surrey, in particular at locations where there is intelligence that there has been a history of drink-driving.

People in Sussex can text officers on 65999 with the details of people they suspect of drink or drug driving or visit www.operationcrackdown.co.uk.

You can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

To keep up to date with officers looking for drink or drug drivers, follow #opdragonfly on Twitter.

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

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