‘Brexit’ a factor in drink-drive accident

A DRIVER who crashed on the M1 and then failed a breath test told the police he had downed some tequila after the accident.

The pressures of work to meet the October 31 Brexit were also mentioned in the defence of Gregory Tomaszczyk, who crashed near to the Leicester Forest East services on the northbound carriageway.

Tomaszczyk was on his way to visit his girlfriend in Leicester in a company Audi A3 when the crash happened at about 4pm on Sunday,

September 29.

After seeing a car in front of him braking, he swerved to the right and lost control, ending up with damage to the front of his vehicle.

The legal limit for drink-driving is 35 microgrammes of alcohol per 100ml of breath and when he was breathalysed Tomaszczyk gave a reading of 85 microgrammes.

He later retracted the tequila story and he pleaded guilty to drink-driving at Leicester Magistrates’ Court.

Prosecutor Sally Bedford told the court: “Police were called to attend the M1 where they found an Audi with significant front-end damage.

“They spoke to the defendant who accepted he had been the driver.

“He said at that point he hadn’t consumed any alcohol prior to the crash but a breath test indicated he was over the limit.

“He claimed he had drunk some tequila after the collision, but he now accepts he hadn’t and that he had just said that on the spur of the moment.”

Michelle Harding, representing Tomaszczyk, of Great Gull Crescent, Northampton, told the court: “In terms of what he said, he tells me he panicked. He hadn’t been in that situation before.

“He had been to Northampton to see friends and play squash and been to a pub to have two or three pints.

“He was in the middle lane and saw the brake lights in front of him and he turned to the right. He doesn’t recall any other cars being involved.”

She said Tomaszczyk, 30, worked for a broker company in Milton Keynes that dealt with shipping around Europe and that, with the expectation that Brexit would happen on October 31, Tomaszczyk had been working very hard and not sleeping well.

She said: “He was working 14-hour days to make sure the company had plans in place to be in a strong position after Brexit.”

She said a driving ban would have a big effect on Tomaszczyk, who was buying a house in Coalville with his partner, who was due to give birth to his child in April next year.

However, he was disqualified from driving for 18 months.

The magistrates also fined Tomaszczyk £450 and ordered him to pay £85 court costs and a £45 victim surcharge.