'Drink-drive' Aston Martin banker: Breath test was wrong

A millionaire banker accused of being nearly twice the drink-drive limit in his £150,000 Aston Martin claims the breathalyser reading was wrong because he was sick moments before the test, a court heard.

Stephen Decani, 42, was pulled over by plain clothes officers shortly after getting into his luxury sports car on King’s Road in Chelsea at 4.30am.

City of London magistrates court heard he was allegedly unsteady on his feet and appeared to be drunk as he pulled open the door of his DB11 coupé.

But Decani, chairman and CEO of St James’s-based investment company Newscape Capital Group, denies drink-driving, claiming he “regurgitated”, which may have affected the breathalyser reading.

His lawyer, drink-drive specialist Philip Lucas who represented rugby star Danny Cipriani last year, told the court Decani “disputes he consumed enough alcohol to put him above the legal limit”.

“The second issue is the reliability of the breath test. The defence has an expert witness. The defendant indicated he regurgitated at a particular point in the process and we have an expert report dealing with the effects of regurgitation on the results of the test,” Mr Lucas said.

Police said Decani had 61 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath when he was tested on June 9, shortly after being stopped.

Magistrate Nick Tarry yesterday adjourned the trial until a date later in the year because the police officer who carried out the breathalyser test was not present at the court to give evidence.

He said it was “in the public interest to have a trial on its merits”, and rejected Mr Lucas’s plea to forge ahead with the case regardless.

Decani, who lives in Chelsea Harbour, denies driving with excess alcohol.