Cops spotted drunk driver in Mansfield McDonalds

A boozy electrician was spotted clowning in McDonalds by police in Mansfield before driving off in his van, a court heard.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.Mansfield Magistrates Court.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.

Matthew Hays, 38, of Leen Valley Drive, Shirebrook, admitted driving with excess alcohol when he appeared before magistrates in Mansfield on Wednesday.

Police watched Hayes “acting in a drunken manner” in the burger bar on Nottingham Road, at 12.40am on November 25, said Neil Hollett, prosecuting.

The officers followed his Ford transit van to Rutland Street, where a breath test revealed he had 74 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres when the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Hays had a previous conviction for driving over the limit in 2004.

Andrew Osbourne, mitigating, said: “He was tea-total for a considerable amount of time but as a result of family difficulties he started drinking again.”

He saw a group of people “milling about” near where his van was parked at Sainsburys, and became concerned about tools stored in the back, so decided to move the vehicle.

Hays may lose his job as a result of the inevitable ban, said Mr Osbourne.

Magistrates fined him £276 and ordered him to pay £85 court costs and a £30 victim surcharge.

He was banned from driving for 18 months.