Drunk Mansfield dad crashed into off-duty cop's car

A Mansfield man downed five pints of Stella before driving his two young children home and crashing into a car owned by an off-duty police officer, a court heard.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.Mansfield Magistrates Court.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.

Joseph Benstead’s silver BMW hit the parked Vauxhall Mokka, at 7.45pm, on March 10, on High Street, in Edwinstowe.

The owner of the Vauxhall detained Benstead until police arrived.

A test revealed he had 61 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, when the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

In police interview, he said he had been out with his girlfriend and two children at South Forest Leisure centre, where he drank five pints of the strong lager.

Treve Lander, mitigating, said it was an out-of character offence, because Benstead has to be careful about what he eats and drinks due to a stomach complaint.

He said Benstead, a deputy manager at a factory, was likely to lose his job as a result of the ban.

The 24-year-old, of Lindhurst Lane, admitted driving with excess alcohol when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Wednesday.

He was banned for 18 months but was offered a drink drive rehab course which will reduce the length of the disqualification by 137 days if completed before March 2019.

He was fined £400 and ordered to pay a £40 government surcharge and £85 costs.