Boozed-up Mansfield man hit fence when swerving to miss a cat

A banned Mansfield drink driver who swerved to avoid a cat and hit a building site fence was tracked by police because his BMW left a trail of water and oil, a court heard.
News from the courtsNews from the courts
News from the courts

Paul Bromley was traced to Davey Close, after the accident on Fairholme Drive, at 1am on June 4, where he made himself known to officers.

A test revealed he had 65 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, when the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

“He told police he drank cider before going out, then three bottles of beer and some wine at the Swan pub,” said prosecutor Robert Carr.

“He knew he had too much to drink, he said, but nevertheless he drove along Fairholme Drive. He then drove to a family member’s address.”

Bromley, 26, of George Street, admitted drink driving, and driving without a licence and insurance, when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Thursday.

He was banned for drink driving in September 2015, and was back in court in February 2016, for breaching the community order that was imposed.

Yvone Wragg, mitigating, said Bromley had been celebrating the first contract he had won as a self-employed fire engineer.

She said he panicked after hitting the fence, but confessed to police shortly afterwards.

Mrs Wragg said Bromley had breached the community order for the earlier drink driving offence because he was suffering from depression, following the death of a baby.

“He didn’t realise he was still disqualified,” she said.

Greta Percival, of the probation service, said it was raining on the night and his phone died before he could call a taxi.

She said the dad-of-two was “genuinely remorseful” and “ashamed”, but had shown poor thinking skills.

District judge Andrew Meachin said: “I am not going to go out and leave you sweating about going to prison.

“You have continually breached the community order and you were nearly double the limit and you had an accident in which you and others could have been injured.

“There’s no excuse.”

He sent Bromley to prison for 18 weeks, suspended for 12 months, and ordered him to undertake five days of a rehabilitation activity and a 30 day thinking skills programme.

Bromley was banned for three years and fined £225, with a £115 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.

He was offered a drink drive rehabilitation course which will reduce his ban by 274 days if completed by July 2019.

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