A 51-year-old employee of the National Flour Mills who fell asleep while driving along the Lady Young Road, Morvant as he returned home from a party on Christmas morning, has pleaded guilty to driving under the influence. Harridass Sukdeo of Chaguanas, was fined $6,000 when he appeared before Magistrate Wendy Dougdeen-Bally in the Port-of-Spain Sixth Court.
Ordered to pay $2,000 forthwith, Sukdeo was granted two months to pay the balance. Sukdeo was charged that around 1.20 am on December 25, he drove his vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. The court heard from Sgt Edward Edmund that Sukdeo had been driving along Lady Young Road, Morvant, when he stopped on the white line under the walk-over, and fell asleep behind the wheel.
Police officers on mobile patrol who observed the vehicle and stopped to offer assistance, woke Sukdeo and arrested him after they smelt alcohol on his person. Sukdeo failed the breathalyser after his blood alcohol level measured 104 microgrammes. The legal limit is 34 microgrammes per every 100 milliliters of breath.
Apologetic yesterday, Sukdeo told the magistrate that he had accompanied some friends to a lime and had consumed three scotch and two White Oak and coke. Revealing that he had arrived at 7.30 pm on December 24, and had left around 9.45 pm to return to work, Sukdeo said he remembered stopping to make the turn at the walk-over, and was later awakened by the police. Asked by the magistrate if he had a problem with alcohol, Sukdeo admitted that he had previously attended Alcoholics Anonymous and no longer had a problem.
