A Bath man who drove his Audi S3 in the city centre while over the alcohol limit and without insurance was disqualified from driving for three years when he appeared before magistrates on Monday 6th October.
They heard that Rhys Hughes was arrested by police in James Street West on 28th June after his driving raised suspicion.
He was found to have 136 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80.
The court heard that at the time, he had recently broken up with his girlfriend, had become homeless and was sleeping in his car. He had cancelled his car insurance as it was £500 a month.
As it was Hughes’ second drink-driving conviction within 10 years – in 2021 he had been given an 18-month ban – magistrates imposed an obligatory minimum driving ban of 36 months.
The court was told that the 34-year-old, of Kipling Avenue at Bear Flat, works in London as a groundworks engineer and comes back to Bath at weekends.
Magistrates ordered him to pay a total of £1,765 in fines and costs.
There was a £600 fine for having no insurance and another £600 for the drink-driving offence.
He was ordered to pay a £240 surcharge for each offence and prosecution costs of £85.
His driving ban will be reduced by 25% as he intends to take a course.
