Breathalyser result is wrong as I’d been sick, says banker
♦ A millionaire banker accused of being nearly twice the drink-drive limit behind the wheel of an Aston Martin claims that the breathalyser reading was inaccurate because he had vomited moments before the test, a court has heard.
Stephen Decani, 42, was pulled over in his £150,000 Aston Martin DB11 coupe on King’s Road in Chelsea, west London. Plain-clothes officers say they witnessed him unsteady on his feet at 4.30am and appearing to be drunk as he went to his car and drove off. Mr Decani, who lives in Chelsea Harbour, where flats can sell for £3.3million, is the chairman and CEO of the investment company Newscape Capital Group. He denies being over the limit. The reading taken by officers on June 9 was said to be 61 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.
Philip Lucas, Mr Decani’s lawyer, who once represented England rugby star Danny Cipriani in a drink-driving case, told the court the breath test was unreliable. “The defendant indicated he regurgitated at a particular point in the process and we have an expert report dealing with the effects of regurgitation on the results of the test,” he said. Mr Decani will face trial later this year and was released on unconditional bail.