Erratic driving of Sutton man who made 'one very stupid mistake'

A boozy Sutton man whose erratic driving so alarmed motorists the police were called, told a court he made 'one very stupid mistake.'
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Gareth Coupe was followed by officers after the tip-off and stopped on Kings Mill Road East, at 7.30am, on September 22.

A test revealed he had 84 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, when the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Treve Lander, mitigating, said: “He has gone out and stayed over at a friend’s house and it’s on the journey home that he was caught out.

“He felt all right but he didn’t take into account the fact that the alcohol he drank the previous night might not have gone through his system.”

He said a ban would make it difficult for the dad-of-two to get to work in Somercotes, and visit his children in Kirkby and Ollerton.

Coupe, 32, of Downing Street, admitted drink driving when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates, on Friday.

He told magistrates: “I made one very stupid mistake and no one regrets it more than me.”

Chair Richard Eaton said: “You can never be sure when alcohol has left your system.

“A member of the public was so concerned about the manner of your driving they rang the police.”

He was banned for 18 months, but was offered a drink drive rehabilitation course, which will reduce the disqualification by 137 days if completed by October 2019.

He was fined £386, and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £115 government surcharge.

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