Pensioner tells court he will ‘never drive again’ after being caught drink-driving on A10

A pensioner was caught drink-driving after a member of the public alerted police to concerns over his poor driving.

William Watson, 72, of Marshland Street, Terrington St Clement, appeared at Lynn’s Magistrates’ Court on Thursday where he admitted to the offence of drink-driving.

Crown prosecutor Nicola Lamb outlined to the magistrates that on Feburary 17, police responded to a call by a member of the public reporting a vehicle driving badly along the A10 at Lynn and that it had pulled into a layby.

Officers found Watson in his Honda Jazz with no shoes on, his trousers down and he was slurring his speech.

He immediately admitted to police that he had been drink-driving and said that he had an alcohol problem.

A roadside breathalyser test was conducted with Watson giving a reading of 106mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath, with the legal limit being 35mcg.

Watson has one previous conviction of drink-driving back in 2011, which magistrates did not have to consider during sentencing as the offence took place more than 10 years ago.

The 72-year-old mitigated for himself in court, and said: “I’m attending AA [Alcoholics Anonymous] meetings and I wish to try to control my alcohol drinking.

“It happened in February, when I lost my job.

“I have now sold my car and it’s being collected on Friday.”

Despite Watson telling magistrates he was giving up driving all together, he was still handed a driving disqualification of 28 months.

“That includes driving your wife’s car,” said magistrate chair John Hare.

“Normally we would give you unpaid work, but we won’t on this occasion,” Mr Hare added.

Watson was also ordered to pay a fine of £250 with an added victim surcharge fee of £100 and court costs of £105.

“I will never be driving again and I know that I have a problem,” Watson said before leaving the courtroom.