Two men caught driving after consuming so much alcohol that they were almost three times above the legal limit were each fined $8,000 yesterday.
Ravi Ragbir, 36, and Ricky Narine 32, were admonished by San Fernando Traffic Court Magistrate Natalie Diop for breaking the law and putting other road users in danger. They both pleaded guilty.
Court prosecutor Sgt Kassiram Lutchman said around 8.30 pm on Friday at Ghandi Village, Debe after Ragbir failed a breathalyser test. He exceeded 35 microgrammes limit by 84 microgrammes, recording a reading of 119 microgrammes. Asking for leniency, Ragbir said he attended a social event at his sister’s home and “I got carried away.”
He said he had been unemployed for the past year and a half as he cares for his stroke-stricken 74-year-old father.
The father of one said he uses his father’s pension to pay for his father’s needs and to get by. Although she commended him for taking care of his father, especially in a time when adult children fail in that responsibility, the magistrate said his reading was exceedingly high and was an aggravating factor.
Telling him he has a duty to everyone to obey the law, she said he ought not to get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol. She allowed him two months to pay the fine or serve 15 months in prison.
Narine, a ICT technician with the Ministry of Education, was arrested around 11 pm on Friday at Lord Street after he failed the breathalyser test. His lowest reading was 122 microgrammes which is 87 microgrammes above the legal limit.
Saying he was a first time offender, Narine said he went to a co-worker’s home at Drayton Street, San Fernando where he had a “couple bottles of wine to drink.”
He took a chance to drive as his co-worker lived five minutes away from his home.
“I made a bad decision,” he admitted, explaining he had eaten nothing and was not accustom drinking wine. Asked by the magistrate why he did not walk, Narine said it was too dangerous. Explaining to him that his level of impediment would have been high, she advised him not to drink and drive. She also gave him two months to pay the fine or serve 15 months in prison.