Teenager who went to pick up inhaler is given drink-drive ban

HE WAS STOPPED OVER HIS MOT

A TEENAGE driver has been banned from the road for a year after he made a journey to fetch his asthma inhaler even though he had been drinking.

Charles Huddlestone made the journey from his home in Church Street, Burbage, at 2am on Monday, September 21, a court heard.

He was stopped a short time later by a police in Earl Shilton and was arrested after he failed a roadside breath test.

Huddlestone appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court to admit a single charge of drink-driving.

Prosecutor Dale Brownless told the court said: “The officers stopped his vehicle and noticed he was unsteady on his feet.

“A breath test was taken at the roadside, which he failed.”

Huddlestone was taken into custody where a further sample was taken and this gave a reading of 48mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath – the legal limit is 35mg.

Huddlestone, who has no previous convictions, chose not to be represented by a solicitor at the hearing.

Asked to explain his actions, Huddlestone told magistrates he was not stopped by police over the manner of his driving, explaining: “I was pulled over because my MoT had expired two weeks earlier.

“I was driving because I needed my inhaler. I was having serious asthma problems and I had left the inhaler at my friend’s house and I felt I had to go to get it.”

Magistrates told him they had no option but to disqualify him and he was banned from driving for 12 months and fined £106.

He was told to pay prosecution costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £34. His ban will be reduced by three months if he completes a drink-driving awareness course.