A Milford motorist has been handed a driving ban after admitting getting behind the wheel of his vehicle whilst over the limit.
Twenty-six-year-old Nathan Edmundson, of Rectory Avenue, Hakin, pleaded guilty to driving his Ford Transit van with 62 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, exceeding the prescribed limit when he appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Prosecutor Vaughan Pritchard-Jones told the court that there had been some confusion initially as to whether Mr. Edmundson, who worked as a fisherman, had been driving the company registered vehicle.
“There was confusion as to whether the defendant had the vehicle or if it had been stolen, so his boss phoned the police, and when they went to look for it, it was found outside Mr. Edmundson’s home.
“When officers spoke to the defendant that morning (October 28), he smelt of intoxicants, and he said that he’d driven the vehicle the night before, eight or nine hours or so previously.
“However, CCTV showed that the vehicle had been parked in Milford marina that morning, and Mr. Edmundson told police that he’d lied and actually driven the vehicle that morning. He said that he had been drinking the night before, and on his own admission, driven back home that morning,” added Mr. Pritchard-Jones.
Defence solicitor Mike Kelleher told the court that his client should be afforded a degree of credit for admitting the charge.
“Had he come outside that morning and told police officers that it wasn’t him driving, then there is no way that anyone would have known. He volunteered the information himself to police,” he remarked.
Magistrates disqualified Mr. Edmundson from driving for 17 months and handed him a £1,200 fine for the charge.
He was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £85 and a £120 victim surcharge.