Mansfield angler caught over the limit as he travelled to night fishing session in his van

Richard Andrew Roy was pulled over behind the wheel of his Peugeot van by police on West Bank Avenue, Mansfield, in the early hours of July 19, Nottingham Magistrates’ Court was told on Friday, September 18.

When breathalysed, he blew 51mg of alcohol to 100ml of breath, when the legal limit is 35mg.

Prosecuting, Neil Hollett told the court: “It was about a quarter-to-two in the morning when police saw him driving his white Peugeot van. He was stopped and spoken to and police suspected he had been drinking alcohol.

“He was breathalysed at the roadside and was then taken to the police station.”

Roy, 30, of Highfield Road, Clipstone Village, Mansfield, admitted drink driving when he appeared before the court.

Magistrates also heard that Roy was still subject to a conditional discharge issued by Mansfield Magistrates’ Court in September 1019 for being drunk and disorderly at the time of the offence.

Talking about the conditional discharge, Roy told the court that he had been “the victim” and had been pulled out of a pub in town and choked but he “should have walked away”.

Speaking in his own defence, Roy told the court: “I’d been taking part in a fishing match which had finished at about 5.30pm. I went out with the lads and had a couple of pints, then I went back home and had one more can, and I had one more after that, so I’d had three-and-a-half pints altogether.

“I was meant to be going fishing the next day but it got called off, then someone asked me if I wanted to go night fishing and I went. It was a stupid decision.”

Roy was banned from driving for 14 months, but was offered a drink-drive awareness course, which would reduce the disqualification by 14 weeks if completed by June 11 next year.

He was also fined £300 and ordered to pay £85 in prosecution and a £34 victim surcharge. Magistrates took no action on the breach of the conditional discharge because they felt it was nearing its completion.

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