Court Dismisses Appeal From Man Asleep In Car
The Court has dismissed an appeal from Sabur Burrows – who was convicted after being found asleep in his car — stating it “sees no reason to disturb the Magistrate’s finding and the sentence he imposed.”
The ruling said, “Mr. Burrows was found at 3.30 a.m. on 26th June 2020 asleep in his car in an area of Harmony Close, South Road in Paget. The headlights were on and the right indicator was blinking. Mr. Burrows had his window open and he was asleep with his right elbow on the door frame, his window down.
“Two officers on patrol noticed the vehicle and approached Mr. Burrows and tried to wake him. It took several minutes to wake him and the uncontested evidence is that when he was asked his name he responded, “Busy Burrows” and when asked where he was, he responded “Warwick Post Office.” When asked his date of birth, he replied “January/August.” He was also asked if he had been drinking and he responded “Yes, six to seven hours ago.”
“The officer observed that Mr. Burrows’ eyes were red, there was a smell of alcohol from his breathe and he was unsteady on his feet. They took the keys from the ignition. Mr. Burrows was arrested and cautioned at the parking lot of Harmony Close and when the officer demanded a sample of breath, Mr. Burrows declined.
“Mr. Burrows gave evidence at the trial in the Magistrates’ Court that he had pulled over because he was facing extreme exhaustion having had an emergency call that evening in the course of his work as a Systems Engineer. He did not dispute that he had drunk alcohol earlier but he contested that he was impaired.
“He accepted that his words were a bit mumbled and that it was likely that he said he was at Warwick Post Office because he saw the row of post boxes at the Harmony Close condominiums. He said that he was extremely fatigued and that he was not coherent but he did not accept that he was impaired. He said that he had vomited at the police station because of some food he had eaten but not because he was drunk.”
The full ruling follows below [PDF here]:
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