AN INDIAN man seen swerving along a main road has been ordered to undertake unpaid work.
Satnam Singh, 44, of Southall, was stopped by police on the A419 on Wednesday evening.
Prosecutor Keith Ballinger told the court that at around 9.40pm Singh was seen driving an uninsured Ford Transit van at 40mph on the road. Singh was “repeatedly swerving from lane one to lane two, which caused other road users to take evasive action”.
Mr Ballinger added: “Singh also appeared to be braking for no apparent reason.”
When the man, who in 2012 was convicted of drink driving and driving without insurance, was stopped by police, officers noticed a strong smell of alcohol.
Singh, who was driving without a license or insurance, was taken to Gablecross Police Station.
At the station, Singh five times failed to provide a breath sample, Mr Ballinger said. Officers said he was “sucking” not blowing on the breathalyser tube.
Defence solicitor Terry McCarthy said that his client had tried to blow into the machine, but it “did not work”.
Mr Singh had been making his way home from work in Tetbury, Mr McCarthy said. “Apparently there was some party where he was and someone offered him a drink and he foolishly he did accept.”
Singh pleaded guilty to the offences of failing to provide a breath sample, driving without a license and without insurance.
Magistrates disqualified Singh from driving for 36 months and slapped him with a community order, requiring him to do 200 hours unpaid work.
He was also fined £250, ordered to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £85.
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