Driver gets three-year ban after failing to give breath test

Scott Mellors, 33, of Drummond Road, admitted the offence on February 24, when he appeared at Boston Magistrates Court.

The court heard that he was seen in the early hours driving too fast and was stopped by the police and gave a positive breath test with a reading of 55 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit being 35.

However, at the police station he engaged in what was described by prosecutor Jim Clare, as ‘time wasting’ during the procedure as a result of which the machine timed out.

Carrie Simpson, mitigating, said Mellors had a chest nfection, which made the procedure ‘very difficult’ for him.

She said he was not deliberately trying to avoid the test as he had taken the roadside test with a ‘relatively low reading’.

The court heard that Mellors had an excess alcohol conviction in January 2015, for which he had been disqualified for 17 months, so a mandatory three year ban was imposed, although he was offered the drink drivers’ rehabilitation course, which will reduce the period of the ban by 36 weeks.

He was also fined £120 and ordered to pay £115 in costs and charges.