Onlooker took keys out of ignition to stop drink driver in Skegness

Christopher Godber, 68, of Lyndhurst Avenue, admitted attempting to drive with excess alcohol when he appeared at Boston Magistrates Court.

Prosecuting, Paul Wood said that at 10.05pm on August 7, a member of the public saw Godber stumbling and unable to walk straight as he made his way to his car, a green Ford Focus, where it was parked in Tennyson Green.

He said Godber was also seen to drop his ignition keys but was then seen getting into his vehicle and starting the car before the member of the public who had witnessed this, took the keys out of the ignition and telephoned the police.

Godber, who was arrested and provided a reading of 71 microgrammes of alcohol, twice the legal limit of 35, told the police he had been 'out for a drink' and was 'going to take the back roads home'.

Mitigating, Beris Brickles said Godber was 'very disappointed with the decision he made'.

He said he had gone into town to renew his bus pass and on the way home he had visited a friend and they had had some drinks together before he 'took the poor decision to attempt to drive'.

Fining him £250 and banning him from driving for 16 months, District Judge Peter Veits said Godber had made a 'poor decision'.

He was also ordered to pay £117 in costs and charges and was offered the drink drivers' rehabilitation course which will reduce the period of the ban by 16 weeks.