Summer drink drivingconvictions approachingthree figures say police

Operation Drangonfly has seen police send a strong message that it is not only the Christmas and New Year periods when drivers will be targeted.

Recent convictions have included two men who were found behind the wheel while more than three times the drink-drive limit. They have now been banned from the roads.

Philip Day was so drunk when he went into an off-licence in Rustington at 7.50pm on 21 June that staff refused to serve him.

But Day then got into his car and drove home, where he was arrested by police after being found more than three times the drink-drive limit.

He pleaded guilty to drink-driving. He was banned from driving for 48 months, told to do 120 hours of community service.

Mariusz Lullis was three times the drink-drive limit when he was stopped by police at 11.30pm on 20 June. The 25-year-old had been riding a moped on the wrong side of the road when he swerved out of control in front of officers in West Street, Bognor Regis.

Lullis, of Bognor Regis, pleaded guilty to drink-driving, driving without insurance and driving without a licence.

He was banned from driving for 24 months, told to do 100 hours of community service

A total of 91 people have now been convicted of offences after being arrested in June as part of Operation Dragonfly. Police have taken the move of naming those arrested.

Superintendent Jane Derrick said: “They put other drivers in danger as well as themselves through their selfish decision to get behind the wheel while well over the limit.

“Both men must have known they were breaking the law but both decided that their journeys were more important than the safety of other people on the road.

“It is totally unacceptable to drink and drive and they now have many months banned from driving to think about their decisions.”

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