Driver given points on licence for being drunk in charge of a vehicle in Hatch Warren (From This is Hampshire)
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Driver given points on licence for being drunk in charge of a vehicle in Hatch Warren
12:30pm Friday 15th March 2013 in News By Emily Roberts, Chief Reporter
A PENALTY of 10 points was added to a man’s driving licence after he was found drunk in charge of a vehicle.
John McCartney appeared at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court where he pleaded guilty to the offence, which happened on November 11 last year in Wallop Drive, Hatch Warren, Basingstoke.
The 46-year-old said he was driving from London to Bournemouth to visit his brother after separating from his wife, when his Vauxhall van began shuddering on the motorway.
He told the court that he came off the M3 and pulled over at Sainsbury’s in Hatch Warren and could not restart the van so decided to stay there for the night.
He went out for a few drinks before returning to his vehicle and consuming a bottle of vodka. McCartney, from Frimley, Surrey, was then found by police, drunk inside the van with the keys in the ignition and was arrested. Tests showed he had 121mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mcg. He said: “I wasn’t thinking of driving at all.”
District judge Philip Gillibrand told McCartney: “I don’t think you are being straight with me.”
But he added: “I can’t say in all honesty there was a likelihood of you driving.”
He fined McCartney £400 plus £85 costs and £40 victim surcharge as well endorsing his licence with 10 points.
