BMW driver who drank copious amounts of vodka and attacked police jailed at Portsmouth court
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Raimonds Vilde, 40, was four times over the legal drink driving limit
A BMW driver drunk on copious amounts of vodka who attacked police officers in an ‘appalling’ assault has been jailed in Portsmouth.
Raimonds Vilde who concussed one officer and attacked another, was jailed for 18 months after admitting various offences at Portsmouth Crown Court. The 40-year-old was four times the legal drink driving limit when he was detained.
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Court heard how Vilde, of Sycamore Road, Bognor, was stopped while driving a black BMW at roughly March 1 in Land End Road. Members of the public had reported him to the police on suspicion of drink driving.
He walked away from officers when he was asked to provide a breath test at the roadside, after previously drinking a copious amount of vodka. One officer tried to detain him, but Vilde grabbed their arms and squeezed them - swiping off their body worn camara during a painful attack.
Vilde grabbed a second officer’s hair and then fell backwards, causing the officer to strike their head on the pavement. In custody, Vilde gave a reading of 140 microgrammes (ug) of alcohol per 100 millilitres (ml) of breath. The legal limit is 35ug of alcohol per 100ml of breath, making him four times the legal limit.
Vilde appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court on July 13, where he admitted to drink driving, assault by beating of an emergency worker, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Detective Chief Inspector Ali Hutchings said: “Vilde was rightly stopped on suspicion of drink driving, which we know is one of the fatal five behaviours which cause people to be killed or seriously injured on our roads. His appalling assault on two officers was completely unacceptable. It left an officer drifting in and out of consciousness.
“Being assaulted should not simply be seen as a ‘part of the job’ for officers who work hard to keep our communities safe. It demonstrates the risks of serious harm that officers expose themselves to every day. Vilde is now serving a custodial sentence for his offences along with a four-year driving disqualification.”