Haverhill man jailed after being convicted of drink-driving for third time

A serial drink-driver has been jailed after being caught more than three times the legal limit while behind the wheel in Haverhill.

Andrius Bartninkas was convicted of drink-driving for a third time at Ipswich Magistrates' Court yesterday, after he was seen driving erratically in the early hours of Saturday.

Bartninkas, 33, of Ash Grove in Haverhill, who pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol, driving whilst disqualified, driving without insurance and driving without a valid MOT, was sentenced to 20 weeks in prison and banned from driving for five years. He was also ordered to pay £233 in costs.

It came after officers who were on patrol in Haverhill at about 1.30am on Saturday were passed by a Volkswagen Golf which was being driven in an erratic manner.

They signalled for the driver to stop in Withersfield Road, which he initially failed to comply with, before he pulled over in Eastern Avenue and almost collided with a parked vehicle in the process.

Police approached the vehicle where they found Bartninkas in the driver's seat and he was asked to take a roadside breath test.

He failed the test and further checks revealed he was a disqualified driver and he was therefore uninsured.

The vehicle also did not have a valid MOT test certificate.

Bartninkas was arrested and taken to Bury St Edmunds Police Investigation Centre, where he failed a further breath test as he provided a sample of 111 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath - the legal limit is 35 mcg in 100ml.

The court heard this was Bartninkas' third drink-driving conviction and he was subject of a four-year driving disqualification imposed in February last year.

Inspector Gary Miller, of the Roads and Armed Policing Team, said: “Andrius Bartninkas can now be described as a serial drink-driver, having been convicted for a third time.

“I find it staggering that someone can be so reckless once – let alone on three occasions – and to drive while more than three times the limit is not only extremely idiotic and dangerous, it is a serious risk to life. The court was left with no option but to send him to prison.

“This was a great piece of proactive police work by the officers who stopped Bartninkas and they very likely prevented him from causing a collision.

"People should not think that just because it is the middle of the night they can get away with this sort of behaviour, because our officers are around 24/7.

“We are almost half-way through the Christmas drink and drug-driving campaign and I am extremely disappointed to find people continuing to take these unnecessary risks.

"Our message is clear, it is not worth it and there is no excuse.”

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