Police found 12 lager cans in car of driver over legal limit at Tebay services
A motorist found over the drink-drive limit, after being seen asleep while parked up at Tebay motorway services, has been sentenced by magistrates.
Brian Wallace, 63, was sat in the driver’s seat of his stationary Ford Fiesta in the car park of Westmorland Family’s southbound service area on Thursday 22 September.
There were keys in the Ford Fiesta’s ignition, which was running.
Wallace identified himself to police, who found seven empty cans of lager inside the car along with four full cans and one that was half-full.
At Carlisle Magistrates’ Court on Friday 7 October, prosecutor George Shelley said: “There was a strong smell of alcohol coming from within the vehicle and from the defendant himself.”
Wallace said he had been travelling from Scotland and was heading to London to see his grandson.
He failed a roadside breath test and a subsequent evidential reading showed 54 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The limit is 35mcg.
Wallace, of Stonebank, Livingston, West Lothian, admitted being in charge of a vehicle while above the alcohol limit when he appeared in court.
From the dock, Wallace told magistrates of his offence: “No justification whatsoever for having alcohol in a vehicle. It is no defence whatsoever.”
Wallace already had three points on his licence for a speeding offence and learned that more would follow, putting him at risk of a discretionary disqualification.
Seeking to advance an exceptional hardship argument in a bid to avoid a ban, Wallace said the effect of being off the road would be felt within his family.
On Friday and Saturday nights, he drove a taxi for his son, who looked after his children but collected 75 per cent of the evening takings.
Wallace himself had a bus pass for free travel which meant he could still go to and from his own place of work.
Magistrates imposed 10 points and a six-month ban, ruling the exceptional hardship claim not “good enough.”
Wallace must also pay a £133 fine, plus £85 court costs and a £53 mandatory surcharge.