Drink driver banned for second time

A FACTORY worker is banned from the road today after being caught drink-driving for the second time – despite claiming he had only had one drink.

Francisco Martins was banned from driving for three years after appearing before South East Suffolk magistrates in Ipswich.

It is the second time the 51-year-old has been banned from driving in the five years he has lived in England after moving from his native Portugal.

Through an interpreter, Martins pleaded guilty to the charge of driving his car having consumed more alcohol than the law allows.

Magistrates sitting in Ipswich court heard how Martins, of Willoughby Road, Ipswich, had been stopped by police in the early hours of December 7 last year.

As he drove along Ranelagh Road in the town at around 2.30am police noticed the Renault 19 was straddling the central white line.

Prosecutor Adele Cook said that Martins originally refused to give a breath tests but eventually did one at the station and was found to have 57 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – the legal limit is 35.

Defence solicitor Diana Infanti said that Martins had been to a nightclub but claimed that he had only had one pint of beer.

She said: "He had however been drinking alcohol the day before.

"He went home from the nightclub around midnight but around 2am he had run out of cigarettes and decided to go in his car believing that he would be OK as he had only had one pint of beer earlier.

"He really believed he would be ok to drive as he had only consumed a small amount of alcohol but he had been drinking the day before and had topped up his levels."

Ms Infanti added that he knew he had made a dreadful mistake.

Martins was disqualified from driving for three years and fined £200 as well as being ordered to pay £55 court costs.