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Saturday, 12 July 2025

Creative Sentencing of Cheshire Drink Driver Almost FIVE Times Legal Limit

Magistrates have creatively sentenced a Romanian national who was paralytic when he crashed his car outside his home.

Ion Manole, 26, of Carter Street, Chester, admitted driving whilst the amount of alcohol in his breath exceeded the prescribed limit when he appeared at Chester Magistrates' Court last week.

This is an offence contrary to section 5(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and has a maximum sentence of 26 weeks' custody and/or a fine at level 5 (unlimited) on summary conviction.

Magistrates heard that the offence occurred on Saturday, 21st June 2025, when Manole was observed manoeuvring his car in Carter Street.

A resident recorded Manole colliding with several stationary vehicles, before driving to park at the end of the street. The footage then showed him then exiting the vehicle and staggering down the street to his home address.

Chloe Durose, prosecuting, said: "Officers were called and he was arrested after giving a reading of 162 microgrammes (of alcohol) per 100 millilitres of breath.

"In custody, the defendant said that he had alcohol but only drove to move the car from one parking space to another."

The prescribed limit is 35 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, which means Manole was more than four-and-a-half times the limit.

Catherine Davies, mitigating, told Magistrates that there was "an important context" to Manole's offence, which would have been explored further in the pre-sentence report that had been ordered.

The matter had been returned to court for sentencing prior the completion of the report, when it became known that Manole intended to return to Romania.

Magistrates were of the view that Manole's offence had crossed the custody threshold, but given his imminent return to Romanian elected to impose a Band E fine instead (a fine with a starting point of four-times relevant weekly income).

Manole was fined £1,230 and ordered to pay £492 surcharge and £85 towards prosecution costs.

He was also disqualified from driving for a period of three years.

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