First summer drink-driver convicted in court

Officers were called to a single vehicle collision involving a black Audi A3 on the A259, close to Roedean Café, at about 12.50pm on Tuesday (June 26).

On arrival, they discovered the vehicle had crashed into metal railings and was blocking the road.

The driver was identified as Darrell Jacob, 41, unemployed, of South Coast Road, Peacehaven.

He told police he had been drinking brandy and had consumed diazepam, and was taken to hospital as a precaution, where he refused to provide a sample of blood.

He was subsequently arrested and charged with failing to provide a sample of blood when suspected of having driven a vehicle.

Jacob was further charged with two counts of possession of a bladed article in a public place, after two kitchen knives were discovered in his car.

He had come to the attention of police less than an hour earlier, after officers carried out a welfare check on a woman at a house in nearby Rugby Place – Jacob was present and appeared intoxicated, and was warned not to drive his car which was parked outside.

The vehicle was placed on the police hot list – meaning officers would be alerted if it activated an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera – and it was found crashed a short time later.

Jacob was remanded in custody to appear at Brighton Magistrates’ Court the following day (Wednesday, June 27), where he was convicted of all three offences.

He was sentenced to eight weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and disqualified from driving for 30 months. He was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £115 victim surcharge.

A total of 67 people have been arrested in Sussex so far as part of Surrey and Sussex Police’s summer crackdown on drink and drug-drivers.

The campaign started on June 14 and ends on July 15. However, officers will continue to respond to reports of drink and drug-drivers as part of day-to-day business all year round.