Chauffeur who crashed car found to be over limit following late-night drinking

A 50-year-old man has lost his job as a chauffeur after crashing into a parked car in the Twerton area of Bath while more than two-and-a-half times the legal limit for alcohol. Fanica Iftime, of Bath New Road in Radstock, had been drinking until 3am at his nephew’s birthday celebration, a court heard. The following evening, on December 4, he drove despite not eating all day and hit the car while a woman was inside. Iftime admitted driving while over the legal limit when he appeared at Bath Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, January 2 via the help of a translator. Prosecuting, Jessica Dobson said a woman was in her Nissan Micra which was parked on Lymore Avenue in Twerton. Ms Dobson told the court: “She was about to move off and as she did so, her vehicle was struck by a silver Peugeot. “The sole occupant and driver of the Peugeot was the defendant. Police were called and a roadside breath test gave a positive result. “Two further breath tests conducted at the police station gave a low reading for the defendant of 93 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath (the legal limit is 35 microgrammes). “The defendant is of previous good character and has no matters recorded against him.” Defending, Lisa Rowley said: “Mr Iftime explained to me that he had been drinking the night prior to this event at home for his nephew’s birthday celebration. “He stopped drinking at 3am and he said that he then chose to drive at 6pm to where this event took place. “His explanation for being so far over the limit [after a nondrinking period of 15 hours] was down to the fact that he hadn’t eaten anything that day. “Mr Iftime is a chauffeur. Subsequently, as a result of this, he will lose his licence and job. “He’s extremely sorry for this taking place. “He has a clean driving licence which he’s held since 1992. “There are no statutory aggravating features. The only aggravating feature you might consider is he was involved in an accident.” The court heard Iftime, who is Romanian, moved to the UK in February 2018 and that he has children in school here. Sentencing, lead magistrate Angela Graham-lee said: “We’re going to impose a fine for this offence because of the practical difficulties imposing a community order.” Iftime was fined £733 and told to pay Crown Prosecution Service costs of £85 and a £73 victim surcharge - a total of £891. He was also banned from driving for two years. This can be reduced by a quarter if he completes a drink-drive awareness course.