Three lifetime driving bans and 220 km/h – court released driver who has now disappeared
A 20-year-old man with three lifetime driving bans was speeding while intoxicated at over 220 km/h during a pursuit in Gdynia. The lower court refused to order his arrest, and when the higher court ordered it, the suspect had already vanished.
Pursuit in Gdynia, court release and suspect's disappearance
According to an account from a Polsat News reporter cited by Interia, a 20-year-old man was detained by police following a pursuit in the Gdynia area. He already had three lifetime bans on driving motor vehicles on record – yet he got behind the wheel again, this time under the influence of alcohol.
When officers attempted to stop him for a check, the man had no intention of complying. He fled, accelerating his car to over 220 km/h. One patrol car pursued him, while another unit positioned itself on the Gdynia ring road. He was stopped between the Chwarzno and Chylonia sections.
After being brought to the prosecutor's office, he was presented with charges. Investigators concluded that the nature of the case and the suspect's previous behaviour justified a motion for temporary arrest, and referred the matter to court.
Court refused arrest
However, the lower court made a different decision – the man was released from custody. As the Polsat News journalist reported: "It is genuinely difficult to explain this, because I have already spoken with the prosecutor, and so far spoken by phone with the court's spokesperson, and nobody understands this decision."
As an argument against arrest, the court took into account information that the suspect had no fixed place of residence, and his common-law partner stated that the man was staying "somewhere in the country". The prosecution appealed this decision.
The case went to the Regional Court in Gdańsk, which on 12 August sided with the investigators and ordered the application of temporary arrest. The problem is that when the higher court's ruling was delivered, the suspect could no longer be found. The risk of flight was, incidentally, one of the key grounds on which the prosecution had earlier insisted.
"Irritation is too mild a word"
Zbigniew Korytnicki, former head of the traffic police department in Gdańsk, commented on the case on Polsat News. In his view, the situation is particularly alarming given the scale of violations.
"Here we have a person who has two active court bans, who does not stop for a check, who is in a state of sobriety, so one might ask a somewhat rhetorical question, what went wrong" – the expert said.
Korytnicki stressed that he understands the principle of judicial independence, but assessed that this case lacked proper discretion. He stated that the term "irritation" is in this context positively too mild.
The former police officer also pointed to a broader problem: repeated violations of lifetime driving bans are too rarely met with a decisive response from the judiciary. "On such matters, we usually talk about tightening the law; here the law does not need to be tightened, we simply need to respect the law as it is and make decisions as they should be made" – Korytnicki assessed.
In his view, the problem may stem, among other things, from overcrowding of the penitentiary system. However, he emphasised that the very fact of repeatedly violating lifetime bans should lead to absolute sentencing of imprisonment without possibility of suspension.
"If someone has several bans and continues to get behind the wheel, continues to be under the influence of alcohol, you cannot expect rational thinking from this person" – the former officer concluded.
Source: Interia