Bassetlaw drink-driver caught by mobile phone app after hitting a lamppost

Jeremy Fidelis drove home after hitting the lamppost on Doncaster Way, in Carlton-in-Lindrick, at 7.30pm, on December 11, last year.

Prosecutor Lottie Tyler said he initially claimed his black VW Golf had been stolen, but a breath test revealed he had 40 microgrammes when the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Maria Moore, mitigating, said Fidelis, who has no previous convictions and a clean driving licence, had been at a family party and the pub, but left early to check on his dog.

"He would never have driven if he thought he was over the limit," she said. "It was bad weather and he had an accident on the way home. He panicked and left the scene.

"An app on his phone automatically contacted the police after the impact. The police don't prosecute under 39 microgrammes so he was right on the borderline."

Fidelis, a self-employed heating engineer who is the sole breadwinner for his family, will have to hire a driver, she added.

"This was an error of judgment. If he was one microgramme under, he wouldn't be facing a drink-drive prosecution."

Fidelis, aged 35, of Conway Drive, Carlton-in-Lindrick, admitted drink driving and failing to stop after an accident, when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Wednesday.

He was fined £333 and ordered to pay a £1,333 surcharge with £85 costs.

He was banned for 15 months but a rehabilitation course will reduce the disqualification by a quarter if completed it before November 2022