TV presenter Klint Janulis loses appeal after drink-driving conviction

Klint Janulis, who presents 10,000 BC on Channel 5 and lives near Bicester, said it would have been ‘easier’ to pay a fine than to appeal his sentence after he was convicted of drink driving in May last year.

He had been already been sentenced at Oxford Magistrates Court, but in his bid to change that decision he described the series of events that night for a second time, at Oxford Crown Court, yesterday.

The 39-year-old, who served in the US Military and special forces for 14 years and is now doing a PhD in archaeology at Oxford University, said he had two glasses of wine with dinner – one red and one white – on the evening of October 31, 2018.

He had been a guest to a ‘high table’ dinner at Trinity College, an event where it is ‘frowned upon’ to be drunk.

Janulis said he thought he hadn’t consumed enough alcohol to need a taxi back home as he had eaten a four-course dinner and hours had passed.

So he got behind the wheel of his Toyota and drove back home to Freehold Street in Lower Heyford.

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But, on the way, he crashed his car into a ditch on the B430 between Middleton Stoney and Weston-on-the-Green at around 12.45am.

At Oxford Crown Court yesterday he explained how he had swerved to move out of the way of what he thought was a ‘dog’ at the time and - as the owner of a border-collie, named Ringo - he didn’t want to hit it.

But instead of swerving he ended up leaving the road and told the court how his car had filled with smoke – triggering his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his time in Iraq with the army.

He called his wife as soon as he had escaped from the silver car and she arrived ‘within minutes’.

They drove home, and to calm him down shared a bottle of red wine.

He had a glass, and then later poured 'a mason jar' of beer and cracked open a can of Stella.

A member of the public had seen the car in the ditch and called the police.

The two officers arrived at the scene and then drove to the registered keeper's address to ‘check if they were okay’.

Janulis’s wife had anticipated their arrival and asked them if it would be okay for the couple could move the car the next day, before inviting the officers inside.

Matt Clark, a retired police officer who worked at Thames Valley Police for 30 years and was there on the night, gave evidence in the witness box yesterday.

He told the courts he asked Janulis when he last consumed alcohol, to which he replied ‘a few seconds ago’.

PC Clark then said that he would do a breathalyser test on Janulis, who said: “You can do the test but it’s going to fail.”

Read the latest court results from Oxford Magistrates

The reading came out at 77mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath – twice the legal limit (which is 35mcg).

Janulis told the court that when he was in service, he was advised by his commanders to drink alcohol to de-stress after military operations.

After the accident, which he said caused him to have an episode of PTSD as it involved him being trapped, he said 'stress drinking' was a way to cope with the situation.

Descriptions of the drinks had been changed in several accounts taken after the incident, and police officers who arrived at his house argued that they hadn’t seen any glasses or ‘jars’ around the home at all.

But Janulis, dressed in a check tie, grey blazer and white shirt, stood in the witness box and said under oath that he hadn’t been drunk when he was driving.

In fact, he said he always carries around £40 in his wallet ‘just in case’ he needs to get a taxi home from an event in Oxford.

He said the reason for his appeal was because he didn’t want his reputation to be tarnished.

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He said: “Part of what I do is communicate science. I have written several children’s books on science.

“It would have been a lot easier for me to pay the fine, but I don’t want this to be representative of me.”

But Judge Daly, and two magistrates, threw out his version of events and told the court that there were lots of ‘inconsistencies’ in his story.

The judge added that his versions of events don’t match up entirely with his wife’s account, and his friend’s – who he ate dinner with.

After deliberating for half an hour Judge Daly told the courtroom: “There are a lot of inconsistencies.

“Frankly we do not believe this account.

“In conclusion we cannot accept the appeal.”

He must now pay £620 in court costs.

He was previously banned from driving for 80 weeks in May last year and was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £66.