A DRINK-DRIVER is today banned the roads for 20 months after being caught twice the limit.

By TOM POTTER

tom.potter@eveningstar.co.uk

A DRINK-DRIVER is today banned the roads for 20 months after being caught twice the limit.

Police had to tail Terry Day for a mile before he stopped after they spotted his van veering across a road in Woodbridge.

The 39-year-old of Old Barrack Road, Woodbridge admitted driving above the legal alcohol limit and without insurance at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

Day is the latest drink-driver to be named and shamed by The Evening Star as part of a month long campaign to highlight those who put lives at risk by getting behind the wheel after having a drink.

This paper also has an ongoing campaign to name and shame those who shun the law and drive without insurance, meaning anyone unlucky enough to be involved in an accident with them, could end up paying from their own pocket for damage or losing money if they have to take time off work.

Magistrates heard how police drove past Day as he swerved his Ford Escort van across the centre line of Lime Kiln Quay Road, Woodbridge, at around 6.30pm on November 16.

Officers followed Day, who ignored their indications for him to stop until pulling over near his home - a mile away from where he was first spotted.

As he left his vehicle, officers noticed he smelt of alcohol and was unsteady on his feet.

Day failed a roadside breath test and an intoximeter test, taken at Woodbridge Police Station, returned a reading of 72 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath - the legal limit being 35mg.

A vehicle check found that he was also driving his van without insurance.

Day pleaded guilty to both charges in court and said: “I only had three drinks and I made sure I pulled over where I was out of the way. I made a mistake and can only apologise.”

Chair of the bench, Dawn Girling, banned Day from driving for 20 months and ordered him to pay the court £305 in fines and costs.

In sentencing him she said: “Make sure you are not behind the wheel of a car or you will face a more serious charge.”

Day was given the option of completing a drink-drive rehabilitation course which will reduce his disqualification by three months.

Should drink drivers be punished more severely? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk