Driver, 72, slumped over wheel was drunk on vodka

CONCERNED

A WORRIED woman called 999 after she found a 72-year-old man slumped in his car and feared he was having medical problems.

However, emergency crews found he was drunk on vodka.

The discovery was made after Steven Slee had parked his Mercedes in a layby near the Co-op in Earl Shilton on the evening of November 14 last year.

At Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, Slee pleaded guilty to being drunk in charge of the vehicle.

The court heard that Slee had previous driving bans for motoring offences, in 2003 and 2014.

The 2014 incident, for drinkdriving, led to a conviction that saw him lose his licence for four years.

Under the law, drinkdriving leads to an automatic 12-month ban.

However, being drunk in charge of a vehicle can result in only penalty points.

After hearing that Slee, of Bosworth Road, Kirkby Mallory, looked after his wife, who has early dementia, and his poorly mother, magistrates agreed to let Slee keep his licence.

Prosecutor Sally Bedford told the court: “At about 8pm, a woman was concerned for the defendant’s welfare. The defendant was in a Mercedes in a layby.

“He was slumped in the driver’s seat and she asked if he was okay, and he said yes, he had just had a late night.

“His speech was slurred and she feared he was having a medical episode.”

The police attended and Slee failed a roadside breath test. He later gave a blood sample and was found to have 167 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 50 microgrammes. Perminder Bassi, representing Slee, told the court: “On this occasion, he explains, this was his son’s vehicle. “Unfortunately, his son took his own life and this was, in his words, the only thing of his son’s he had to hold on to. “He went and bought himself a bottle of vodka – which the officers saw there, half-full – and he drank it.

“His wife is showing signs of dementia and his mother, who is in her 90s, lives four miles away and is partially blind and has diabetes. He goes out and gets things for her, and so on.” Mr Bassi urged the magistrates to let Slee keep his licence because his “mother relies heavily upon him”. Christopher Thompson, the chairman of the bench, told Slee: “We’ve taken into account your circumstances and we will not be banning you today – so consider yourself very fortunate.” Slee was given 10 points on his licence and ordered to pay a £323 fine, £85 court costs and a £34 victim surcharge.

PASSER-BY THOUGHT MAN WAS ILL

We will not be banning you today so consider yourself very fortunate Magistrate Christopher Thompson