Drink driver over the limit after double brandy in Annesley

A painter and decorator who downed a double brandy before driving was caught over the limit in Annesley, a court heard.

Joshua Timothy Catchpole, 32, of Lilac Walk, Kempston, Bedford, admitted driving with excess alcohol when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court on Thursday.

Police stopped his Ford Fiesta at 2.30am, on October 25, when his car was seen swerving across Derby Road, in Annesley Woodhouse.

A breath test revealed he had 50 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, when the legal limiit is 35 microgrammes.

The court heard he received a 12 month ban for driving with excess alcohol in 2006.

Abbie Edwards, mitigating, said Catchpole didn’t feel the effects of the alcohol and decided to drive.

She said the loss of his licence would affect his work as a self-employed decorator, and prevent him from visiting his son, who lives in Nottingham, as frequently.

He was banned for 12 months and ordered to pay a £325 fine, £85 costs and a £32 victim surcharge.