Teacher found guilty of dangerous driving for packing 13 people into his Volvo

A teacher was banned from driving yesterday for loading 13 people into a Volvo built for five.

Abraham Gniwosch had ten in the back - two women with babies on their laps and six children under the age of ten half-seated or standing up. In the front seat were a man of 28 and boy of 11.

He was caught on a holiday to Llandudno and blamed a sister visiting from New York for pressurising him into taking all the children in the Volvo S70 so they could visit a farm attraction.

He told magistrates in the North Wales resort: 'My sister pressurised me, my own children were already in the car. My sister was quite nasty and said "don't be such a bitch". I said the police will get me.

'My sister put her own kids in my car and I thought let her take responsibility. I was only going 20mph and did everything on my part to make everyone safe.
'It's a strong car and kids don't weigh much.'

But he admitted: 'It's a really silly thing that I had done but I was not driving dangerously. I drive sensibly, I'm a teacher in a school and very good to the kids.'

Traffic officer PC Roger Brazel said when he stopped the red Volvo in Llandudno the car 'was severely overloaded with children standing in the rear.' The view from the rear mirror would have been obscured.

Nia Lloyd, prosecuting at Llandudno in North Wales, said none of the 13 were wearing a seat belt and said the Volvo S70 was 'dramatically overloaded'.

Gniwosch said there had been dogs near where they were staying which had upset the children. 'The kids were screaming "let's get in the car",' he recalled.

Questioned by Mrs Lloyd, he admitted : 'It's a really silly thing that I had done but I was not driving dangerously. I drive sensibly, I'm a teacher in a school and very good to the kids.'

Guilty: Gwinosch crammed 13 people into a Volvo like the one above

Mrs Lloyd suggested : 'You're an intelligent man, a teacher, and you really misjudged the situation?"'

He replied : 'I'm telling the truth, I can't see what was dangerous. I was driving sensibly, I got pressurised. I won't do it again, my sister won't do that to me again.'

Roger McMaster, defending, suggested that the wrong charge had been brought.

He claimed it should have been one of using a vehicle where the number of passengers was such as to involve as risk to injury.

There was no evidence that he had been driving other than carefully.

Chairman Mrs Sandra Walker told Gniwosch: 'Driving a car made for five passengers while carrying 12 is clearly dangerous.'

Gniwosch, 30, of Tottenham, North London, was found guilty of dangerous driving and fined £500 with £415 costs, banned from driving for a year and must take an extended re-test.

The magistrates did not accede to a prosecution request to confiscate the car.

Trip: Gniwosch was on a family holiday in Llandudno, above, when he was caught