Charity worker's 'stupid mistake'
A VOLUNTEER fears he may have to give up his charity work after he was caught drink driving.Stuart Collins, chairman of Ipswich based charity Children's Magic Wand Trust, was arrested after he nipped to the office in the early hours after boozing.
A VOLUNTEER fears he may have to give up his charity work after he was caught drink driving.
Stuart Collins, chairman of Ipswich based charity Children's Magic Wand Trust, was arrested after he nipped to the office in the early hours after boozing.
Representing himself at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court in Ipswich, he said: "I made the most stupid mistake of my life."
Collins admitted getting behind the wheel while drunk on March 8.
Prosecutor Adele Cook said police stopped him because of his "manner of driving" along the town's Hadleigh Road, at 3.30 pm.
He was given a roadside breath test which revealed 87 mcg in 100 ml of breath - more than twice the legal limit of 35 mcg.
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Representing himself, Collins, said: "In the middle of the night I decided to go to my office for some reason.
"It was a random, silly mistake."
When asked what the affect of a road ban will have on him he said: "I will have to give up my charity work."
The court heard he had been suffering from depression and is on sickness benefit.
Magistrates, sitting in Ipswich, banned him from driving for two years and ordered him to pay a £200 fine.
He was also ordered to pay £55 prosecution costs.
Collins, of Henstead Gardens, Ipswich has the option of reducing his ban by six months if he successfully completes a drivers' rehabilitation course.
The Children's Magic Wand Trust is a national children's charity which aims to help deprived or disadvantaged children.
