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Sat-nav blamed for wrong turn down railway
EVERY driver knows that following instructions given by a sat-nav can sometimes lead to trouble – that's when the "turn around when possible" command gets you back on track.
But doing a U-turn was not an option for a drunk who turned right at a level crossing and attempted to continue his journey by rail, before realising his evening had hit the buffers.
Disorientated Satlegh Agha Satlkh Mohammadi, 42, was spotted by vigilant Network Rail maintenance staff after he performed his dangerous and unlikely manoeuvre in Goole town centre.
They managed to flag down a passing police patrol car who arrested the unemployed Iranian national and breathalysed him, finding that he was nearly twice over the legal drink-drive limit.
Yesterday Goole magistrates heard that Mohammadi had made the right turn from the town's Boothferry Road in his Ford Fiesta at around midnight on February 10 this year.
When he was asked by police what he was doing, he blamed his mistake on his sat-nav, claiming that it had told him to turn onto the busy eastbound Doncaster to Hull railway line.
Teresa Slater, prosecuting, told the court that Mohammadi's car was completely blocking the railway and said that it was only discovered quickly because the rail workers had alerted the police.
She added: "They pointed to a Ford Fiesta which had driven on to the railway line and stopped 20 feet from the crossing. When interviewed later he told police that he had listened to the instructions of his satellite navigation system.
"That had told him to turn right at the level crossing so he had done so. He said driving on the railway lines was an error which had been caused by the instructions of his sat-nav system."
Mohammadi, who claims Jobseekers Allowance, told police he had travelled from his home in Chesterfield to try to find work in Goole but had ended up stranded on the railway.
After his arrest Mohammadi had an alcohol reading of 64mg in his breath. The legal limit is 35mg. The court heard the turning Mohammadi needed was a full 50 yards away from the level crossing.
Mohammadi, of Sheffield Road, Chesterfield, said he had drunk just two cans of beer two hours before the incident, but he admitted endangering life on the railway and drink driving.
The court was also told he only held a provisional driving licence and had accepted that driving onto the railway line was dangerous.
Mohammadi's solicitor Emma Appleton said her client had no previous convictions, had expressed genuine remorse for the offence and was at low risk of re-offending.
She added that the inevitable driving ban would be a punishment in itself and asked the bench to impose a community order as he had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and was sorry for the incident.
Mohammadi, who was accompanied in court by an interpreter, was banned from driving for 20 months by chairman of the bench Ray Guthrie, and was offered a place on a driving rehabilitation scheme which if he is successful will reduce his ban by five months.
He was also given a 12-month community order and told to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work.
He will also be the subject of a supervision order and will be given help to find a job.
He was ordered to pay 60 costs. Nobody was injured in the incident.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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