A disqualified driver has been jailed after police caught him behind the wheel whilst over the drink-drive limit.
Officers stopped the white Peugeot van after spotting it in Maid Marian Way, Nottingham, at around 11.45pm on Saturday (30 September) without its lights on.
The vehicle turned into Friar Lane where it was stopped by officers from the City Centre neighbourhood policing team.
Checks indicated the driver had given the officers a false name and moments later he failed a breathalyser test.
He was therefore arrested and taken into custody, where he blew a reading of 58 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath when the legal limit is 35.
Gareth Lowe, of Bramerton Road, Bilborough, was charged with drink-driving, driving whilst disqualified and driving without insurance.
The 43-year-old appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Monday (2 October) and pleaded guilty to all three counts.
He was jailed for six months.
The court heard the initial driving ban was imposed in January 2023 after he refused to take a breathalyser test when stopped by police in April last year.
PC Tom Dodge, who made the arrest, said:
“Drink-driving is a scourge on our communities and careful drivers everywhere know this.
"Driving whilst not only drunk but also whilst disqualified shows both a blatant disregard for road safety and for the courts.
"Lowe decided to drive drunk and disqualified around a densely populated city centre where people were enjoying their night out and has rightfully been sentenced for his actions.
"This sentence sends a strong message – don’t drink drive in Notts.”
https://www.nottinghamshire.police.uk/news/nottinghamshire/news/news/2023/october/banned-driver-jailed-for-drink-driving-with-no-lights-on-in-city-centre/
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