London, Aug 28 : An Indian-origin man in the UK has been fined and banned from driving for 17 months after his angry girlfriend called police for drunk driving.
Kamaljit Sagoo had been out celebrating his 44th birthday with his friend on June 18 when the couple got into a fight.
He jumped into his car to drive to a nearby store to buy cigarette paper when she called the police and informed them that he was drunk behind the wheel of his car.
“Unusually, he has been reported by his partner for driving while drunk and he was later found by police in the driver’s seat of his car,” prosecutor Lorna Rimell told North Tyneside Magistrates’ Court in north-east England.
“He then failed a roadside breath test,” she said.
According to local media reports, Sagoo blew 61 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath when the legal limit in the UK is 35 microgrammes.
He pleaded guilty to one count of drunk driving and also admitted to officers that he had been driving without any insurance.
His lawyer told the court: “It was his birthday and, as things go, it was a very bad birthday for him. He had been out with his partner and there had been an argument and he had gone to get Rizla (cigarette) papers. He felt fine to drive. His partner had been angry at him, she phoned the police.
“Needless to say, that relationship is now over”.
The court fined Sagoo, who works as a plasterer, 583 pound and ordered him to pay 85 pound in legal costs and a 58 pound victim surcharge.
