A nail salon owner has been banned from driving after failing to provide a breath sample to police.
Hung Vu, 46, who arrived in the UK in the back of a truck from Vietnam in 2003, blew over the limit after being stopped in Sunderland.
But he refused to give a second evidential specimen to police, as required by law, South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court heard.
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Vu, who fled his birth country due to political persecution and is now a British citizen, admitted the charge through an interpreter.
His solicitor claimed he had refused to comply due to worry about the impact of his crime on his three-outlet business and his employees.
But Deputy District Judge Gary Garland slammed him for the deliberate failure on Sunday, May 31, after he was pulled over in Ashwood Street, Ashbrooke.
He disqualified Vu, of Flint Road, Sunderland, from driving for two years and refused him a place on a ban-reducing rehabilitation programme.
Prosecutor Glenda Beck said: “A police officer’s attention was drawn to a vehicle due to the manner of driving.
“While stopped at traffic lights, the vehicle started to roll back, and that was towards the police car.
“When the lights changed, the car drove off. The officer continued to follow the vehicle.
“It was swerving towards cones on both the left and right. When it stopped, the driver was spoken to.
“He has got out of the driver’s seat and the officer could see that he was clearly drunk.
“When asked if he’d had a drink, he replied, ‘A little.'”
Mrs Beck said Vu was asked to provide a roadside breath sample but refused to do it properly.
After his arrest, he provided one sample on a CAMIC device at Middle Engine Lane police station in Wallsend.
It showed 73mcgs of alcohol in 100mls of breath, the court was told. The legal limit is 35mcgs.
Vu then refused to provide a second sample, claiming the machine was not working properly.
Defence solicitor Michael Gibson said: “This is the first time that Mr Vu has been arrested since July 2003.
“That was when he entered the UK from Vietnam, aged 28, in the back of a lorry.
“His family somehow clubbed the money together to get him out of Vietnam, for a better life and to escape political persecution.
“He sought asylum, and was granted permanent leave to remain and he is now a UK citizen.
“Quite remarkably, 18 years later, he has three nail salons in the area and employs 10 people.
“During the CAMIC procedure at the police station, there was a Vietnamese interpreter on the phone, at the roadside there was not.
“There were two police vehicles, he was handcuffed, he was scared.
“At the station he blew first but was scared of prosecution. He was scared for his business and for his employees.
“What he didn’t know was that by not blowing into the machine the second time, he would be prosecuted anyway.”
Vu, who pleaded guilty to failing to provide a specimen, was also made subject to a six-week, 8pm to 8am electronically monitored curfew and must pay a £95 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.
