Wrong-way trucker downed bottle of brandy
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by Paul Hooper
A Polish trucker drove down the M20 on the wrong side of the
road while he was FOUR TIMES the drink-drive limit.
Ireneusz Popielarz, 34, had downed most of a bottle of brandy
before heading towards Folkestone.
But Canterbury Crown Court heard the drunken driver got onto the
London-bound carriageway during rush-hour on a Friday last
December.
Donna East, prosecuting, told how horrified drivers swerved to
avoid the juggernaut as it continued along the motorway for at
least a mile.
Police eventually stopped the lorry near Junction 9 at Ashford
and found Popielarz slumped in his seat... with a near-empty bottle
next to him.
The prosecutor said: "Police officers smelled alcohol and
Popielarz's eyes were glazed and red and his voice was
slurred."
Mrs East said the driver was so drunk he couldn't even take a
roadside breath test.
Popielarz told his lawyer he had received "devastating news" his
long-time lover was leaving him.
He admitted drink-driving and driving dangerously and was jailed
for 18 months today.
He was also banned from driving in the UK for three years.
Friday, January 27 2012
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