Driver was caught over the limit a full day after Mansfield boozing session

Connor Morris was stopped in a blue Ford Focus on Pelham Street for driving with no lights at 1.40am, on January 2, said prosecutor Lottie Tyler.

A breath test revealed he had 47 mcgs of alcohol when the legal limit is 35 mcgs.

Ian Pridham, mitigating, said: “It’s a shame really because he had done everything right.”

He said Morris had booked a hotel for the weekend and had consumed “a huge amount of alcohol” with friends on New Year’s Eve. He spent January 1 recovering, but ran out of cigarettes and went out.

“Much to his shock and horror he was still over the limit,” said Mr Pridham.

He said Morris, a corporal in the Royal Artillery, will be the subject of disciplinary proceedings, including a reduction in rank, which will impact on his career and pay.

Morris, of previous good character, was accompanied by his commanding officer who said the defendant had been a unit catering manager, since October 2020.

He described him as a professional soldier who was “trustworthy and honest,” adding he had shown “integrity and courage” for holding his hand up after making a mistake.

Morris, 24, of Yew Tree Drive, Shirebrook, admitted drink driving on Wednesday, and was fined £484, with £85 costs and a £48 surcharge.

He was banned for 12 months but a rehabilitation course will reduce the ban by 25 per cent.

The chair told him: “It was a very expensive packet of cigarettes.”

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