A POLISH man who was found to be drink-driving in Trowbridge town centre earlier this month has been disqualified by magistrates.

Stanislaw Kolodziez was stopped in Wicker Hill on October 1 by police who were concerned by the way he was driving his Peugeot 406.

At North Wilts Magistrates Court last Thursday (Oct 20), the 65-year-old, who said through a translator he had no fixed address but resided in Newtown, pleaded guilty to drink-driving as well as driving without insurance and otherwise in accordance with a licence.

Prosecuting Michelle Hewitt told the court: “It was around 5.30am in Wicker Hill that police stopped the car because of the manner in which it was being driven.“The officers spoke to the defendant and they saw his Churchill insurance had lapsed and that he only had a provisional driving licence. During the conversation they smelled alcohol on his breath and there was a roadside test carried out.”

Kolodziez, who has been in the UK for 10 years, had a reading of 45 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Defending Kolodziez, Terry McCarthy told the court that his client had just finished work and stopped with a colleague to drink cider. He then decided to drive him home which is when he was seen by police.

Magistrates decided to disqualify Kolodziez for 14 months for the drink-driving charge while his licence will be endorsed for driving without insurance.

He was also fined £290 and was ordered to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £30.