County Durham Man Banned for Pushing Car When Drunk

A County Durham man has been banned from the roads for pushing his car to the petrol station when he was drunk.

John Roberts, 52, of Malvern Avenue, Chester-le-Street, was convicted in his absence when he failed to attend for trial on a drink drive charge. He was sentenced at South Tyneside Magistrates' Court last week.

It is an offence under section 5(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 for a person to drive a motor vehicle when the proportion of alcohol in their blood, breath or urine exceeds the prescribed limit. The maximum penalty for this offence on summary conviction is 26 weeks' custody and/or an unlimited fine.

Roberts was spotted pushing his Suzuki Liana onto the forecourt of the Jet Service Station on Durham Road, Birtley on Saturday, 8th August 2020.

Suspecting he was drunk, a concerned member of the public contacted the police.

Prosecutor Jonathan Hanratty told the court: "The police receive a call from a member of the public, concerned that a drunk male is pushing a car.

"Police attend the garage forecourt, and he has parked up. They smell alcohol and they carry out a roadside breath test.

"CCTV shows him pushing the car while steering the wheel. The defendant has no relevant previous convictions."

Roberts provided an evidential specimen of breath containing 93 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, which was almost three-times the legal limit of 35 microgrammes.

Paul Hanratty, mitigating, told the court that Roberts had actually attended on the day of his trial, but was turned away by security staff who thought he was drunk.

He added: "It was a medical issue. He feels a great injustice here. I think that he accepts that he relies on alcohol."

District Judge Kate Meek sentenced Roberts to 12-month community order, with a requirement of up to 25 days' rehabilitation activity.

He was also fined £100 and ordered to pay £300 towards prosecution costs and £95 victim surcharge.

Roberts was disqualified from driving for 24 months.

The Judge offered Roberts the opportunity to complete the drink drive rehabilitation course, which would reduce his disqualification by 24 weeks.