A Pembroke Dock man has been disqualified from driving for 17 months after being caught in his vehicle over the limit by police.
Forty-one-year-old Ivars Balodis, of King Street, appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday to plead guilty to a drink-driving charge.
Prosecutor Ellie Morgan told the court that on December 18, a police officer on duty pulled over the defendant’s Vauxhall Zafira at around 6.30 pm, and could instantly smell alcohol on the driver’s breath.
“A roadside test proved positive and after his arrest Mr. Balodis gave a reading of 70 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath at the police station,” said Ms Morgan.
Defence solicitor Mike Kelleher told the court that Mr. Baoldis, who had been working in Pembrokeshire as a carpenter since 2012, had never been in trouble before.
“He is not a big drinker, but unfortunately he was having some family difficulty in Latvia, which had been preying on his mind and he took a drink.
“He is extremely apologetic. Mr. Balodis has been driving for 20 years and had never had a blot on his licence before. He is concerned about the future and losing his job,” added Mr. Kelleher.
Magistrates disqualified Mr. Balodis from driving for 17 months and fined him £320 for the offence. He was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £85 and a £32 victim surcharge.
“What you did was a very foolish thing. We understand that you were under pressure at the time, but the judgement you made to drive under the influence was horrendous,” chief magistrate David Simpson told the defendant.