A man who denied being the driver of a car that crashed in Cowbit Road, Spalding, was caught out by a DNA test as he left spit on the driver’s side airbag.
Andreis Baranovskis (24) also had seat belt injuries consistent with being in the driver’s seat when the accident happened on December 16, prosecutor Mark Holmes told Spalding magistrates.
Baranovskis, of Alsmeer Drive, Spalding, had nearly double the legal limit of alcohol in blood – 152 milligrammes – when tested after the crash on Cowbit Road, Spalding, but told police the car was being driven at the time by a friend he wasn’t prepared to name.
In court on Thursday, Baranovskis was fined £150 and ordered to pay £150 costs and a £20 victim surcharge when he pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol. He was also banned from driving for 18 months, but can cut four months off that if he completes a rehabilitation course.
Costs in such cases are normally £85, but Mr Holmes said police had been put to the extra trouble of DNA testing his saliva.
Solicitor Mike Alexander, mitigating, said Baranovskis was giving a friend a lift home at the time of the crash, which happened shortly before 7am.
Mr Alexander said: “He tells me he had stopped drinking for a considerable time before then and thought he would be okay.”