A LLANDYSUL man who made the mistake of trying to drive home after a night’s drinking on ‘Black Friday’ had no explanation for his actions, his solicitor explained.
Jonathan Hands, 43, pleaded guilty to one charge of driving while over the prescribed alcohol limit when he appeared at Llanelli Law Courts on Thursday (Jan 11).
On December 23 at around 12.50am, a police officer on patrol in the Llandysul area saw Hands ‘staggering’ in the road.
A short while later he saw Hands behind the wheel of his Vauxhall Astra.
After stopping the vehicle, the officer noticed a strong smell of alcohol, and after failing a roadside breath test Hands was taken to the police station.
A sample taken showed there was 116mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, over three times the legal limit of 35mcg/100ml.
Defending, David Elvy explained that the incident had happened on ‘Black Friday’ – the night when businesses finish work for Christmas.
“My client had been working a long shift, and he did not intend to spend a long time out,” he added.
“He has no explanation for his actions, because he had no need to drive his car.”
Commenting that is was a ‘very high reading’ District Judge Richard Thomas ordered Hands to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work and banned him from driving for 28 months.
In addition he will have to pay costs and a victim surcharge totalling £170.
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