Drink driver banned after 7.30am stop on the A1 in north Northumberland
A drink driver has been banned from getting behind the wheel after being caught two times over the limit.
Thomas Allen, from Ulgham Grange, near Widdrington Station, pleaded guilty to the offence at Berwick Magistrates’ Court.
Magistrates heard the offence happened around 7.30am on March 28 on the A1 near Low Lynn, Haggerston.
James Long, prosecuting, told the court that the defendant gave a positive breath test at the scene and was taken to Bedlington police station where he gave a reading of 71mg alc/100ml breath. The legal limit is 35mg.
In mitigation, Graham Crouth told magistrates that the defendant accepted he had committed the offence. However, he claimed he had been assaulted and made off in his vehicle.
"He saw the police vehicle and pulled into the junction because he knew that they were going to come and get him,” magistrates heard. “He had been driving 5-6 minutes and accepts he had gone too far but nevertheless it’s a mitigating factor.”
The defendant, a freelance chef, was disqualified from driving for 18 months and ordered to pay a fine a court costs totalling £253.