Put safety first – Region 3 Police on DUI

With Driving under the Influence (DUI) cases posing a challenge for Regional Division Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), the ranks in the region are calling for persons to put safety first when behind the wheel and to never drive impaired.
Region Three Traffic Officer Wendell Harry in an episode of “Police and You”, said the ranks in the region are currently targeting rum shops to help minimise drinking and driving. He said they also had discussions with bar owners with the aim of curbing this issue.
“We talked to them about if persons look intoxicated to refuse to sell the alcohol and ask them to leave and to make sure they have a designated driver, whenever they observe they are drunk,” he said.
Driving while above the prescribed alcohol limit attracts a charge for the offence of driving under the influence (DUI) which carries a fine. Persons can be charged if, when tested, their blood alcohol content is found to exceed the prescribed limit of 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, and their blood alcohol concentration exceeds 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.
This seems to be a reoccurring issue in the region, since last year they recorded the highest number of DUI cases compared to the other regions. While the Traffic Officer did not release the number of cases the region recorded this year, in 2021, 501 persons were arrested in the district for driving under the influence of alcohol.
Only two days ago, Nicholas Balkishun, a 28-year-old tailor of Lot 108 Best Road, West Bank Demerara, was arrested and charged with assaulting a Police officer, while he was driving under the influence.
He pleaded guilty to three charges stemming from his assault on the Policeman, which was captured on video.
Arraigned before Magistrate Faith Mc Gusty at the Wales Magistrate’s Court, Balkishun pleaded guilty to behaving disorderly, assaulting a peace officer, and driving under the influence (DUI). He has been fined a total of $27,500, broken down as follows: $10,000 for the disorderly behaviour charge; $10,000 for assaulting the Police officer, and $7500 for the DUI charge. (G9)