Boxing star Simon Vallily was sentenced to do unpaid work today after admitting he had “done a runner” from a police car when he failed a breathalyser test.
The 29-year-old - who won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games - handed himself in five days later after a pal opened the door of the squad car and allowed him to escape.
But Vallily had already shown the officer his passport as ID - and he was on the CCTV footage at a Middlesbrough filling station where he had stopped for petrol at 2.30am.
The cop smelled alcohol on Vallily’s breath when he parked his black Seat Leon on the Park Lane forecourt on April 19 last year.
He failed the B-test with a reading of 61 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath when the limit is 35.
He should have taken a second test at a police station but he avoided that.
Prosecutor Paul Cleasby told Teesside Crown Court that Vallily attended Middlesbrough Police Station on April 24 and he said he had “done a runner” because he suspected that there was a warrant out for him for non-payment of fines - and he did not want to spend Easter in custody.
His lawyer told the judge that there was not a warrant out for him.
Vallily had served four years detention for violence, and he had two convictions for threatening words and behaviour, and drug possession and criminal damage.
But he is now using his criminal past and boxing stardom to keep other youngsters out of trouble.
Richard Bennett, defending, said: “He had a terrible record but there has been a remarkable transition since his release from prison in 2008-9 and he started training impressively as a boxer and won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.
“It allowed him to spend many hours in the company of local youngsters who might choose that particular path.
“He for them is a role model because he comes from the same background as many of them.”
Mr Bennett said that Vallily now worked with young and adult offenders and their families, counselled and supported them using his experiences to teach them where they should go.
He goes to local boxing and wrestling gyms to spread the message about avoiding drugs and he also advises at an Acklam drop-in centre on keeping out of trouble.
Mr Bennett said that Valilly had two fights lined up for March 8 with a £2000 purse and April 4 in Sunderland for a £4,000 pay cheque.
Mr Bennett said to the judge: “May I ask you to allow him to continue his career and all the good work that he has been doing.”
Vallily, of Cambridge Square, Linthorpe, was given a six-month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months.
He was also told to do 150 hours' unpaid work, disqualified for 12 months, and ordered to pay £1,500 in prosecution costs after he pleaded guilty to doing an act tending or intending to pervert the course of justice.
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