A MAN found himself in the dock after 'one more pint' with lunch took him over the drink-drive limit and into police custody.

Kenneth Savage, of Sheppard Street in Brymbo, appeared at Wrexham Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

The 54-year-old admitted that on November 26, he drove a Mercedes motor vehicle in Marford after consuming so much alcohol that the proportion of it in his breath exceeded the prescribed limit.

Prosecutor Justin Espie told the court officers began to follow the defendant's vehicle after coming off the A483 at Marford.

They believed he was exceeding the speed limit, so pulled him over in Claypit Lane, where he provided a positive roadside sample for alcohol.

When providing an evidential reading, the defendant had 45 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath - the limit being 35.

In mitigation, the court heard the defendant's actions on the day were "totally out of character" for him.

His defending solicitor, Mr Rogers, told the court: "He will pay a high price for his error of judgement.

"He has been driving for 36 years and has a clean licence.

"His income is critical to the family; as he's in a senior position as an operations engineer with SP Energy Networks covering north Wales, Cheshire, Merseyside and even southern Scotland.

"He works alone and has to respond to faults - so his job very much hangs by a thread and a lot will depend on the duration of the disqualification he now faces.

The Leader:

"This was a simple day out for lunch on a Sunday.

"He intended only to have two pints, but lunch was longer and he had a third - and I think that's why he appears [in court] today.

"The police tested him again within half an hour of his arrival [in custody] and he was under the limit."

District Judge Gwyn Jones told the defendant "You foolishly thought another pint would not take you over the limit, but alcohol affects people in different ways.

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"The easiest way to make sure you don't appear in court is not to have any alcohol at all."

Savage was fined £900 and ordered to pay a £360 victim surcharge, as well as £85 costs.

He was banned from driving for one year, but can undertake a drink-drive rehabilitation course to reduce the bam to nine months.