A Kenyan man living in the United Kingdom has been sentenced for driving under the influence (DUI).
The Oxford Magistrates’ Court heard that Walter Kinuthia, 35, was stopped by police on Barton Road in Oxford. He reportedly refused to open the doors of his car and gave police a false name. He also refusedto follow other police orders.
“He says he doesn’t like to give details and doesn’t trust the officer,” the court heard.
After he was taken to a police station, Kinuthia refused to provide a breath sample to test whether he was over the drink-drive limit.
Police also noticed open bottles of whisky in the car. The authorities also uncovered his true identity and established that he was banned from driving until 2024.
The court also heard that Kinuthia had first been banned in 2013 for driving with excess alcohol in his system.
When he appeared in court last November, Kinuthia admitted that he was driving with a suspended license, he had no insurance and had failed to provide a breath sample.
The court also heard that Kinuthia then disappeared without leave for eight months.
His lawyer however said the accused returned to Kenya, where he checked himself into a mental health facility. He also stopped drinking for five months.
In August, he flew back to the UK and surrendered to the court to finalise the pending case against him.
“The day after he landed, he handed himself in at court because he knew this was pending,” the lawyer said.
Kinuthia’s lawyer also told the court that her client, who worked as a caregiver, had witnessed unending deaths and suffered a mental breakdown during the pandemic.
The Kenyan man pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and was sentenced to 20 weeks in prison with a two-year reprieve.
Kinuthia was also banned from driving in the UK for five years and ordered to undergo six months of mental health treatment. The court also fined him Sh30,000 in costs.
“There was a reason why you had been disqualified in the first place and you wilfully disobeyed that order and we heard when you were stopped you were driving at speed and fairly recklessly,” the judge noted.
