A 60-year-old man who drove a short distance to his home in Keynsham after consuming alcohol at a wake was more than twice the alcohol limit, Bath magistrates heard.
At the hearing on Monday 20th April, prosecutor Mia Fogwill-Tait said that on the night of 3rd April, a member of staff at Tesco in Keynsham was concerned that a customer who’d gone in to buy wine was intoxicated and alerted the police after he drove away in a Ford Transit van.
Police went to Geoffrey Taylor’s address in nearby St Francis Road, where the van was parked on the driveway and he was standing next to it. He was slurring his words, his eyes were glazed and he was struggling to stand.
Taylor failed a roadside breath test and was arrested. In custody, a breath test revealed 74 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.
The court heard that Taylor had two previous convictions for driving with excess alcohol, although they date back to the 1990s. His licence was clean at the time of this month’s offence.
Representing Taylor, duty solicitor Mark O’ Donnell said the self-employed carpenter had gone to a wake at the Royal British Legion in Keynsham, which is next to Tesco.
His partner had then asked him to pick up some wine on his way home, and he had gone into the supermarket where he had apologised for stumbling in the foyer. He had then driven the 300 yards to his home.
Mr O’Donnell said it had been playing on Taylor’s mind that there were tools in the van that belonged to him and his colleagues, and he had previously suffered a break-in. He had made the “extremely foolish” decision to drive home.
Taylor would lose his employment as a result of the inevitable driving disqualification, as would four people who depend on him for work, said Mr O’Donnell.
Magistrates banned Taylor from the road for 20 months, but that will be reduced by 25% if he does a drink-drive rehabilitation course.
He was fined £440 and must also pay a surcharge of £176 and costs to the Crown Prosecution Service of £85.
