right or wrong

[jacob 28]

what shall we do with a drunken sailor? Why, put him in the dock and charge him under the Road Traffic Act, naturally. Lawyers admitted they could find no precedent for the case against Captain Oleg Filimonov, a 41-year-old Estonian, after customs officers found him intoxicated aboard his 17,000-tonne cargo ship, Torrent, after a drinking session. Instead, magistrates in Brighton convicted him under drink-driving laws.

 

 

The Torrent arrived in port at Newhaven at noon last Friday, carrying split stone aggregate for building roads and foundations. Magistrates heard that Captain Filimonov was off duty while the cargo was unloaded, and started drinking.

 

The vessel was due to leave Newhaven at high tide, shortly after midnight. At 9pm, customs officers boarded the ship for routine checks and found him "heavily intoxicated". When they asked him to breathe into the breathalyser, Captain Filimonov, who has commanded ships for 15 years, refused and told them: "Go on then, arrest me." He admitted he had drunk several beers, gin and tonics and rum. Officers found a half-empty bottle of rum in his cabin fridge.

 

Shah Amin, for the defence, told the court: "He had spent a long time at sea, and this was his only opportunity to see land before setting sail again at high tide. While his cargo was being unloaded, he went into Newhaven town centre to buy food and drink, and drank a few beers during the day."

 

Captain Filimonov, who admitted refusing a breath test, was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £43 costs. His five days in custody were taken as time served in lieu, so he has nothing to pay.

if no law was broken how can they convict

[BlueCoyote 0]

were they just bored?

what did he do WRONG? its a crime to be drunk on your own boat while its docked?

 

i've heard in the US you can be drunk in your own car as LONG as the keys are not in the ignition. if they're in the ignition...even if the car is parked in a lot (say you're sleeping it off and its a hot humid night.. so you want AC) you can go to jail for drunk driving.

 

one guy was sleeping it off when a cop came up tapping on his window. the man put the keys in the ignition to let down his window to talk to the cop... and bang! handcuffed and on his way to jail! the friend who told us about that (ex cop) said he rigged all his cars with automatic windows so that they would let down regardless of the keys...... just because of that one story lol

incidentally.. that particular friend gets drunk on his boat almost every night.... (but its dry docked lol )