Sutton drink driver crashed with three kids in the car

Witnesses described how Anthony Baker’s Honda Civic hit the central reservation on the Rainworth bypass and “bounced” to the other side of the road, at 1pm, on February 10.

A test revealed he had 99 mcgs of alcohol in 100 mls of breath, when the legal limit is 35 mcgs.

Prosecutor Robert Carr said Baker has two previous convictions for drink driving, from 1998 and 2004, and was last in court in 2014, for a dissimilar offence.

Sarah Neale, mitigating, said Baker had been up until 4.30am, boozing with friends, and received a call from his sister to say that his mother was unwell.

“He panicked,” she said. “He suffers generally from anxiety. He has gone to the doctor’s to obtain medication.

“He says an Astra pulled out in front of him and he lost control. He did not drink on the morning of the offence.

“He says it has opened his eyes to the impact of driving with excess alcohol and he has stopped drinking.”

Baker, 46, of Paling Crescent, admitted drink driving, and driving without insurance or a licence, when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Friday.

He was given a 12 month community order, with 80 hours of unpaid work, and must attend ten rehabilitation activity days and a 31 day programme.

He was banned for 26 months, but was offered a drink-drivers’ rehabilitation course, which will cut the disqualification by 198 days, if he completes it by August 2019.

He must also pay costs of £85 and an £85 government surcharge.

You can read more of the latest cases from Mansfield Magistrates Court here.