Redecorating row leads to drink drive charge for Mansfield man

Andrew Croucher’s partner locked him out of their Stella Street house and threw his car keys out after him, said Mary Dixon, mitigating.

“He didn’t intend to drive that evening,” she said. “They had been decorating and started to argue about colour.

“He went for a drive, bought some beer and drank it in a lay-by.

“It was a very trivial argument with far-reaching consequences.”

A member of the public saw his Landrover clipping the kerb, and police traced him to his home address via CCTV, at 11pm, on August 26.

A test revealed he had 107 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millitres of breath, when the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Croucher, 43, admitted driving with excess alcohol when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Monday.

The court heard he had previous convictions for being drunk and disorderly in 2010, and drink driving in 2006.

He was banned for 26 months, but was offered a drink drive rehabilitation course which will reduce the length of the disqualification by 197 days, if completed before February 2019.

He was fined £500 and must pay £85 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.