Pensioner vows to give up driving licence after drink-drive conviction

An elderly driver has said he will relinquish his driving licence for good after being banned for drink-driving.John Keatley, 88, of White Sedge, Lynn admitted drink-driving in Wootton Road, Lynn on May 11 when he appeared before magistrates at Lynn on Thursday.The court heard from prosecutor Abdul Khan, via video link, how Keatley’s Skoda Octavia car was seen being driven in an “erratic” manner by police at around 11.40pm.

He said the vehicle was swerving over the white line in the middle of the road, and making exaggerated turns by being on the wrong side of the road.Officers stopped the car and could smell alcohol on the driver, who was Keatley. His speech was slurred and he was unsteady on his feet said Mr Khan.He provided a positive breath test at the roadside and a later blood test showed he had 105mgs of alcohol in 100ml of blood – the legal limit is 80. Andrew Cogan, defending, said: “Frankly, Mr Keatley is at a loss as to why the officer describes his manner of driving as it was.”He said at the time there were roadworks on Wootton Road and Keatley’s car was quite large and he had to manoeuvre it to avoid cones. Keatley accepted the blood reading but was surprised he was over the limit because he only had three drinks over a period of four hours.“Perhaps it was the lack of food,” suggested Mr Cogan.He described Keatley as having an impeccable driving record for over 70 years. Magistrates fined him £335 with £85 costs and £142 victim surcharge. They also banned him for 14 months, and upon hearing the length of disqualification Keatley said: “I think it is in my own interests to relinquish my licence – and that’s what I will do.”He had initially asked if he could undertake a drink-drive rehabilitation course to cut the length of the ban, which magistrates said he could do.