Cocaine Snorting Berkshire Man Loses Driving Licence and University Place

A Berkshire man has lost his driving licence by getting behind the wheel after snorting cocaine.

Berke Ersoy, 21, of Whychelm Road, Reading, admitted one charge of driving when the concentration of a specified drug - namely the cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine (BZE) - was above the specified limit - namely 50 microgrammes per litre of blood - when he appeared at Colchester Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 16th October 2018.

This is an offence contrary to section 5A of the Road Traffic Act 1988. It has a maximum penalty of 6 months' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction.

The aptly-named criminal was kicked out of Essex University after receiving convictions for assault by beating and a public order offence.

He had returned to Colchester to see his old university friends when he wrote off his BMW by colliding with a car parked in the town's Greenstead Road.

Police attended the incident and, having cause to believe Ersoy was under the influence of alcohol, required him to undertake a roadside breath test. That test proved negative, so he was arrested on suspicion of driving whilst unfit through drugs.

Subsequent investigations revealed that Ersoy had almost eight times the prescribed limit of BZE in his blood.

Caroline Woodley, mitigating, said her client had snorted cocaine the morning of the crash and did not realise he would still be impaired.

She said: "At one stage he was a student at Essex University but as a result of his convictions he was asked to leave.

"He came to stay with a friend over the summer for 12 days and used cocaine socially. He is not an addict in an way.

"It was the morning of the day of the crash when he had taken the drugs and he tested positive 12 hours later.

"He was driving along and it was a momentary lapse of concentration which led to him striking the parked vehicle.

"It then shunted along and hit several more.

"Thankfully, nobody was injured.

"He was surprised the level was so high in his system but it is not like alcohol which wears off over time - it depends on how quickly your body breaks it down."

Magistrates fined Ersoy £440 and disqualified him from driving for 18 months.

He was also ordered to pay £85 towards prosecution costs and £44 victim surcharge.

Update (15/08/20): We have just been informed that Berke Ersoy has started the "koleeberks" YouTube channel where he likes to make a nuisance of himself towards police officers.

Update (10/05/23): Erksoy has been sentenced to 37 months' imprisonment for assault causing actual bodily harm and witness intimidation. The thug beat up his then-girlfriend and put the frighteners on her before court. He'll not be out making a nuisance of himself for the foreseeable future.