Boozy Sutton driver drove 'erratically' at 'high speed'

Phillip Gray’s Vauxhall Corsa was stopped for driving at “high speed” and “erratically overtaking another vehicle”, on Station Road, at 12.35am, on April 1.

A test revealed he had 95 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath when the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Michael Little, mitigating, said Gray, who had no previous convictions, “makes no excuse for his actions.”

“He went out to watch the boxing at the pub, where he had four pints of lager, and planned to walk the 35 minutes home as he has done on many occasions,” he said.

“Rather than simply walking past his car he got in and was stopped by police.”

As a result Gray has been fired from a job as a water service technician, which he held for ten years, because it involves driving.

Gray, 37, of Young Crescent, admitted driving with excess alcohol when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Wednesday.

Magistrates said they would move slightly out of their guidelines because of his good character and early guilty plea.

He was fined £180, and must pay a government surcharge of £30 and £85 court costs.

He was banned for 24 months, but was offered a drink drive rehab course which will reduce the disqualification by 182 days if completed before August 2019.