A Camber man who “didn’t feel drunk” – but still managed to crash his car into a barrier – was one of the first people to be convicted for drink or drug-driving in the Sussex Police 2025 Christmas campaign to catch drivers over the limit.
Across Sussex 279 people were arrested between 1 December and 1 January – a record number.
Officers responded to the collision on Camber Road on the evening of 10 December, where a Volkswagen Golf was found abandoned with the airbags deployed.
Due to concerns for the welfare of the driver, officers made enquiries which led them to an address in nearby Whitesand Drive, where the driver was identified as Richard Bamsey, 42, a computer industry employee.
In police interview, Bamsey said the cause of the collision was more due to jet lag, having landed on a flight into the UK the previous day.
However, he had also been drinking that afternoon. He failed a breath test, and was subsequently arrested and charged with driving with 45 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath and driving with no insurance. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.
At Brighton Magistrates’ Court on 11 December, he was disqualified from driving for 12 months, and ordered to pay a £500 fine, £85 costs and a £200 victim surcharge.
Image Credits: Sussex Police .