A man was caught driving his van in a Chippenham pub car park after partaking in a four-hour drinking sesh, a court heard.
The Old Lane’s landlord phoned the police to report that a punter had left the establishment and was seen driving his vehicle around outside on 8 August this year.
Sean Hughes, 28, appeared before magistrates in Swindon on Wednesday (25 August) where he admitted failing provide a specimen of breath as a driver in charge of a vehicle.
Pauline Lambert, prosecuting, said the defendant, of Southampton Road, Salisbury, had been drinking with a group of others in the Old Lane, in Lodge Road, from around 1.30pm.
At 5pm, he was seen to leave the pub, get into the driver’s seat of a flatbed van and move it around the car park. He unloaded items from the van before moving it back to its original position.
Police attend the scene after receiving a call from the landlord and they are shown CCTV footage of Hughes driving outside the pub.
He was detained and asked to provide a sample of breath at the roadside but he refused. The defendant was subsequently arrested and again refused to provide a specimen of breath in custody.
His solicitor told the court that he was moving the vehicle to offload some camping gear into a relative’s vehicle as he was leaving a celebration at a nearby community centre.
Hughes is said to travel sometimes upwards of 80 miles each day working in the home improvements sector and has three children – who live in Somerset – to provide for from a previous relationship as their mother does not work.
Magistrates decided to impose ten penalty points on Hughes’ driving licence rather than a disqualification. He was ordered to pay a £276 fine, £85 costs and a £34 victim surcharge.
