A chef from Hove was caught drink driving on a motorbike by Sussex Police during the annual Christmas crackdown.
Adrian Karas was given a 14-month ban after being caught speeding while over the limit on his grey Yamaha MT-125.
He was riding along the A259 Brighton Road, in Lancing, when he was stopped just over a fortnight before Christmas.
Megan Attree, prosecuting, said that Karas, 39, of Hill Brow, Hove, also had no licence. He used to have one, magistrates were told, but it expired four years before.
As well as a ban, the bench at Worthing Magistrates’ Court fined him £507 for drink driving and £338 for speeding.
Karas was also ordered to pay a £338 victim surcharge and prosecution costs of £85, making £1,268 in total.
His 14-month ban will be reduced by 14 weeks – or more than three months – if he completes a rehabilitation course by the end of September. The courses cost up to £250.
Today (Friday 16 February) Sussex Police said: “Adrian Karas, 39, formerly a chef of Hill Brow, Hove, was stopped on Saturday 9 December in Lancing. He had been seen riding a motorcycle at 46mph in a 30mph zone.
“Officers found he did not have a valid licence, with his paperwork showing an expired licence in 2019.
“He told officers he had been ‘too busy’ to renew the licence and said: ‘I already know how to drive.’
“He admitted having a whisky and cola drink before leaving work the night before and had told the police that he had consumed alcohol the night before.”
Police said that, in custody, he tested positive for 49 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms per 100ml of breath.
At Worthing Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 9 January, Karas admitted all three offence – drink driving, speeding and riding without a licence.
He was one of 261 people to have been arrested for drink or drug driving or related offences during the month-long Christmas and new year crackdown.
A Hove man appeared before Brighton magistrates three days before Christmas charged with drug driving.
Anthony Washer, also known as Tony Washer, 51, of Stevens Court, Ingram Crescent West, admitted driving after taking cocaine.
He was banned from driving for three and a half years – or 42 months – and fined £80 and ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and a £32 victim surcharge, making £197 in all.
How can he have his driving ban reduced when he doesn’t have a driving licence? Ban him for life.
Because you can be banned from driving independently from a licence. For example, I can’t drive a D-class vehicle in any circumstance because I don’t have a licence for it. However, if I receive a ban, I can’t drive any vehicle.