Boozing is ‘quite usual’ in Poland, says drunken driver slurring words behind wheel of ice cream van

A Polish driver who was caught behind the wheel of an ice cream van while nearly four times the legal drink-drive limit has told a court that drinking alcohol is “quite normal” in his country.

Hundreds of thousands of tourists visited Great Yarmouth in Norfolk during the peak summer season, when Radoslaw Jaroszek, 45, served ice creams and lollies.

Police were alerted by concerned customers who said he appeared ‘drunk’ and ‘impaired’. He was followed on CCTV as he drove his Ford Transit through the seaside town where he lives and was pulled over for a breath test.

Officers found he had 131mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath – almost four times the limit of 35mg. He was subsequently taken in for questioning, where the lowest reading from a breath sample was 100mg.

The 45-year-old man appeared in Great Yarmouth District Court on Wednesday and admitted drink-driving and was banned from driving for more than two years.

The court was told that on August 12 he was working for Lamarti’s Ice Cream, a company established in 1980 that operates a fleet of modern vans in Norfolk.

Officers told the hearing they smelled “alcohol” when they arrested him at 3:20 p.m. and that he was unsteady on his feet.

Jaroszek claimed he never normally drank, but had ‘two pints of beer’ to cope with the depression his partner had suffered following her recent miscarriage.

Through an interpreter, he also said that in his home country of Poland it was “quite normal” to drink alcohol and that he had not known that British drink-driving laws were so strict.

Jaroszek was given a 25-month driving ban, a 12-month community order including 100 hours of unpaid community service, ten days’ rehabilitation activity and ordered to pay a total of £100 in court costs.

After his arrest he was fired. He is still unemployed.