A man attempted to escape police on foot in icy conditions after officers spotted him driving erratically and above the speed limit.

Daniel Blake attempted to flee from officers on December 16 after police followed his Vauxhall Vectra, which was seen driving erratically and over a 30mph speed limit in Eastbourne.

He refused to provide a breath sample to officers.

The 35-year-old roofer, of Weavers Close in Eastbourne, admitted failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis at Brighton Magistrates’ Court.

He was disqualified for a year and issued with a £750 fine, and ordered to pay £85 in costs and a £100 surcharge.

It comes as Sussex Police name and shame drink-drivers caught during the holiday season in a bid to crack down on the offence.

Sussex Police arrested more than 200 people in December during enforcement patrols and checks, as part of the national campaign Operation Limit.

Three of those named by police were caught by officers on Christmas Day.

Officers stopped Candice Cromack at 3.40am on December 24 when they saw she could not drive in a straight line on the A259 Marsh Road at Pevensey.

Police found her driving a Nissan Qashqai in her pyjamas and bare feet and told officers: “I need to get home to wrap my Christmas presents.”

She tested positive of 69mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath - well above the legal limit of 35mcg.

At Hastings Magistrates’ Court, Cromack, 31, unemployed of Murdock Mews in St Leonards, admitted drink-driving and was disqualified for three years.

She must also pay a £120 fine with £85 costs and a £48 surcharge.

Jerry Kuncheria crashed his vehicle into parked cars in Priory Road in Hastings at around 8.50am on Christmas Day. The 40-year-old retail sales assistant, also of Priory Road, admitted to officers he had been to a Christmas party the night before and was only a provisional licence holder for the Toyota he was driving. 

He tested positive for 103mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

At Hastings Magistrates’ Court, Kuncheria admitted drink driving and driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence. He was disqualified for two years and must complete 180 hours of unpaid works, with £85 costs and a £114 surcharge.

The Argus: Jerry Kuncheria crashed his car into parked cars along a road in HastingsJerry Kuncheria crashed his car into parked cars along a road in Hastings (Image: Sussex Police)

Ryan Kent made the decision to drive to a friend’s house at 10.15pm on Christmas Day, but crashed his Citroen into a parked car, causing damage.

He told officers he had felt “ok to drive” after consuming four or five shots with his family.

Kent, 20, a bar worker from Bulverhythe Road in St Leonards, tested positive for 63mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

At Hastings Magistrates’ Court, he admitted drink-driving and was disqualified for 20 months, fined £150, with £85 costs and a £60 surcharge.

Deliveryman Rodrigo Freitas de Paula crashed his Vauxhall Corsa in Bersted Street, Bognor at 8.15pm on Christmas Day, testing positive for 87mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

The 38-year-old man from Longacres Way in Chichester admitted drink driving at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on January 18 and was disqualified for 22 months, and issued with a £500 costs, £85 in costs and a £200 surcharge.


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Retiree Deepak Kochar was stopped by police at a petrol station in Crawley where he was suspected of drink-driving at 1.55am on December 24.

Kochar, 80, of Bryce Close in Horsham, had gone to the shop to fetch milk but had previously been out with friends to drink several shots of alcohol and tested positive for 65mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

He admitted drink-driving at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on January 18 and was disqualified for 17 months, issued with a £120 fine and made to pay £85 costs and a £48 surcharge.

Azad Hato, a chef from Blackwell Close in St Leonards, was stopped at 11.25pm on December 23 in Bexhill Road, also in St Leonards.

Hato was driving a Toyota while over the alcohol limit, with officers noticing his eyes were glazed, his speech slurred, and he was unsteady on his feet.

He tested positive for 111mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

At Hastings Magistrates’ Court on January 11, he admitted driving over the prescribed limit for alcohol and was disqualified from driving for two years.

He must also complete 180 hours of unpaid work, with £85 court costs and a £114 victim surcharge.

Peter Froud was arrested after leaving his vehicle on the carriageway at 5.15pm on December 31.

He had decided to leave work early at 2pm to go to the pub and tested positive for 81mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

Froud, 57, unemployed of Copthorne Bank in Copthorne, admitted drink-driving at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on January 18.

He was disqualified for 20 months, fined £120 and made to pay £85 in costs and a £120 surcharge.

Benjamin Smeaton was stopped by officers at around 9pm on December 12 at Richmond Place in Brighton.

He was driving a van with an expired provisional licence and tested positive for 43mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

Smeaton, 33, unemployed of Dye Road Drive in Brighton, admitted drink-driving, driving without valid insurance and driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on January 12.

He was disqualified for one year, issued with a £440 fine and ordered to pay £85 in costs and a £264 surcharge.

Security guard Ian Simpson was stopped by officers in Marine Parade in Rottingdean on December 15 in a Vauxhall Corsa and tested positive for 86mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

Simpson, 48, of Church Street in Littlehampton, admitted drink-driving at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on January 12 and was disqualified for 17 months and ordered to pay a £120 fine, £85 in costs and a £48 surcharge.

Officers were called to the scene of a crash involving a moped in Goldstone Road in Hove on December 16.

Duruesh Kearns, a 25-year-old social care assistant, had collided with a vehicle and tested positive for 74mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

Kearns, of West End Way in Lancing, admitted drink-driving at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on January 12.

He was disqualified for 17 months, issued with a £250 fine and ordered to pay £85 in costs and a £100 surcharge.

Roads Policing Unit Superintendent Rachel Glenton said: “Our officers are determined to catch offenders on our roads before they cause serious harm to themselves or other road users.

“We patrol the country’s roads 24/7, every day of the year, and these results show that while we can’t be everywhere, we could be anywhere.”