Two more Brighton and Hove drivers banned in drink drive crackdown

Two more drivers have been banned from the road as a result of the annual Christmas crackdown on drink driving by Sussex Police.

Chipo Maposa, 47, of Elm Drive, Hangleton, was arrested after her silver Vauxhall Astra was seen swerving in Church Road, Hove. It then hit a lamppost in nearby First Avenue, Hove, at about 12.25am on Sunday 1 December.

Maposa pleaded guilty to failing to provide a specimen for analysis when she appeared at Brighton Magistrates’ Court.

She was banned from driving for 18 months, fined £520 and ordered to pay £150 costs and a £52 victim surcharge.

Antony Machacek, 55, was arrested at 5.30pm on Sunday 15 December after officers stopped his car on the A27 at Lewes.

Machacek, of Norfolk Road, Brighton, admitted drink driving. He was banned from driving for 18 months, fined £535 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £53 victim surcharge.

Superintendent Jane Derrick said: “It brings me absolutely no joy that the number of drivers we have successfully prosecuted as part of the Christmas campaign has passed the 100 mark.

“Every person drinking or driving and getting behind the wheel is an accident waiting to happen, putting not only themselves and anyone else in their vehicles in danger but every other person they come across on the roads as well.

“We will continue to seek out and prosecute anyone who is selfish enough to get behind the wheel after drinking or taking drugs and if that means the number of people we prosecute continues to rise then so be it.

“Every drink or drug driver we get off the roads makes the roads a little bit safer for everyone.”

Maposa and Machacek were among eight drivers to have been banned in the most recent hearings at Brighton Magistrates’ Court.

The total number of people punished by the courts for drink or drug driving offences over Christmas and the new year has now reached 104.