A man went to the pub to console himself after being sacked, and was later caught drink-driving after his former employer called the police. Alan Brown's car had a tracker fitted to it by the company, and staff, knowing he had been to the pub before getting behind the wheel, reported him for possibly being over the limit, and were able to tell officers where the vehicle was.
Brown had been sacked from his Yorkshire-based job earlier on Friday, January 31, before he went for a drink. He then headed back to his home in Oakham, but was three times the legal drink-driving limit when he got behind the wheel of his Volvo.
Officers were called at around 6pm, with police pulling over Brown's slow-moving vehicle on the A1 in Lincolnshire. At the scene, they found numerous bottles of beer in his car, while a subsequent breathalyser test after his arrest saw Brown give a reading of 110 microgrammes of alcohol per 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.
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Brown, of Crown Street, Oakham, pleaded guilty to drink-driving at an earlier hearing, and appeared at Leicester Magistrates' Court on Monday (February 24) for sentencing. Prosecutor Ravinder Daroch told the magistrates: "On January 31 at about 6pm, officers responded to a report of a potential drink-driver travelling south who had been drinking from 3pm and was heading towards the Nottingham area.
"They witnessed a Volvo straddling both lanes of the A1 while driving well below the speed limit. He did not react to the officers' indications for him to stop." Ms Daroch said the officers stayed behind the vehicle, which almost came off the road while swerving too late to take an exit.
The court heard that Brown had previously been convicted of drink-driving in 2015, resulting in a 28-month driving ban and a community order. The magistrates were asked by Brown to consider another community order with alcohol treatment for the latest offence.
Representing himself in court, Brown said: "I think I have got an issue with alcohol and I could do with some intervention from probation if possible. Some rehab or something like that?"
Of the incident itself, 59-year-old Brown said: "On this occasion I did lose my job earlier in the day and I consoled myself with alcohol. I went to the pub and because my car was on a tracker the company knew I'd been to the pub and phoned the police - a duty of care sort of thing. Drink is too easy to get hold of, isn't it?"
The magistrates decided to adjourn the case until the end of March, giving Brown a chance to speak to the Probation Service so they could recommend a suitable punishment and treatment programme.
