A man was caught drink-driving after going for a final pint with his mates before lockdown kicked in.
Jamie Craine had finished his shift at midnight and went for a drink in the early hours of March 19, four days before the UK lockdown came into effect.
The 21-year-old told Leicester Magistrates’ Court he feared it would be his last chance to go to the pub with his friends, and that he only had a couple of drinks and did not think he was over the limit.
After leaving the pub Craine, of Spring Road, Ibstock, near Coalville, went for a drive to the Burton area and found himself driving just ahead of a police car on the A444 near Twycross.
Prosecutor Hitesh Keshvala told the court: “On Thursday, March 19, at 3.30am this defendant was stopped by police officers who had seen his Ford Mondeo drifting over the white lines.
“He was stopped and spoken to and he was fully compliant.”
A road side breath test indicated Craine was over the limit, and the police took him to Beaumont Leys police station, in Leicester, where a further, more accurate, test was carried out.
It showed his breath as containing 46 microgrammes of alcohol per 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.
Mr Keshvala said Craine had no previous convictions.
Representing himself in court, Craine told the magistrates: “I’d worked late and finished at 12 o’clock and it was just before coronavirus started so I thought I might be in lockdown soon so I went out.”
He said he thought he had crossed the white lines as he was pulling over to change the radio.
When asked how a driving ban would affect his life he said: “It will be a struggle to get to work and to see my girlfriend.
“It’s three miles to work but I will be able to bike to work.”
He was fined £180 and ordered to pay court costs of £85 and a £34 victim surcharage. He was also banned from driving for 12 months.
