Drink driver avoids jail
THIRD time drink driver David Ball has avoided jail after magistrates heard he was a single dad.Ball, 55, of Bramford Road, Ipswich, was more than four times the legal limit when he was stopped in Ipswich on November 13.
By JON TUNNEY
jon.tunney@eveningstar.co.uk
THIRD-time drink driver David Ball has avoided jail after magistrates heard he was a single father.
Ball, 55, of Bramford Road, Ipswich, was more than four times the legal limit when he was stopped in Ipswich on November 13.
Magistrates heard the lock gate keeper was also convicted for being over the legal limit in 1991 and 1994.
He was spared a jail term when a pre-sentence report revealed he was suitable for a community punishment and had to care for a nine-year-old boy.
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He was banned from driving for three years.
Ball had admitted the offence at an earlier hearing, but proceedings were adjourned for probation officers to compile a report.
He admitted further offences of driving without insurance and having no licence at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court.
David Taylor, prosecuting, said police spotted Ball's Ford Sierra driving erratically and pulled him over after he mounted the kerb.
He was arrested and taken to Ipswich police station where a breath test revealed he had 141mg of
alcohol per 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.
Alan Hughes, mitigating, said Ball got into the car because he
genuinely believed his father was dying.
He said Ball's decision-making was affected by the alcohol he had drunk and he now accepted he should not have been driving.
Mr Hughes also told magistrates his client had a valid insurance
document – but for the wrong car.
Ball had been paying regular instalments for the last three or four years on a car he was no longer
driving, believing it covered him for the Sierra.
Magistrates ordered him Ball to carry out 200 hours of community service and told him not to consider it a soft option. He was fined £150 for having no insurance and £50 for having no licence and was ordered to pay £55 costs.
