Man drank bottle of wine and drove to garage for cigarettes

A BMW driver was more than twice the legal drink-drive limit when he was spotted by a police officer driving erratically, a court heard.

Nicolas Gill, 35, of Wilford Lane, West Bridgford, was driving to the local garage to buy cigarettes.

He realised it was a very foolish mistake to make and accepted, when stopped, he’d had a bottle of wine earlier in the evening.

Gill, a systems engineer with a Nottingham firm, pleaded guilty to drink-driving when he appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

He tested 84 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, over the limit of 35, on April 14.

The police officer was on mobile patrol in Clifton Lane, Nottingham, at 12.04am.

The officer saw a black BMW driving erratically as it approached from behind and overtook his vehicle.

A 30mph speed limit was in place so the defendant would have been breaking the speed limit, the court was told.

Gill turned into a service station and was unsteady on his feet as he got out of the BMW.

He admitted he drank a bottle of wine before driving.

District Judge Leo Pyle told Gill: “The level of reading in your breath was in excess of two times the legal limit.”

He fined Gill £806, ordered he pay a victim surcharge of £81 and prosecution costs of £85.

He was disqualified from driving for 22 months and was offered the drink drive rehabilitation course which, if completed, reduces the ban by 25 percent.