Drink driver caught in Bulwell after ‘aggressive family disagreement’

Police were acting on a tip-off when they followed Ivan Goncear's grey Peugeot 208 on to Golf Close, on May 16, said prosecutor Lynn Bickley.

Goncear appeared disorientated and his eyes were glazed. A test revealed he had 82 mcgs of alcohol in 100 mls of breath, when the legal limit is 35 mcgs.

The court heard he has one previous conviction for drink driving in 2019.

Chris Powell, mitigating, said: "One week before he was informed that his mother was diagnosed with cancer, so he was understandably in a very depressed and despondent state.

"While he usually doesn't drink at all, on this occasion he felt it necessary to visit his cousin who offered some comfort and support."

Goncear, who spoke via a Romanian translator, planned to spend the night, but fell out with his cousin's partner and there was an "aggressive disagreement."

"It culminated in him being thrown out of the house and being told to take his car with him," Mr Powell said.

He added that Goncear, a father of two, would lose his job as a forklift truck driver in Mansfield, "not least because he has to be there at 6am."

"He realises that he has let himself down, his family down and his children down."

Goncear, 34, of Longford Crescent, Bulwell, admitted drink driving when he appeared at Nottingham Magistrates Court, on Friday.

He was fined £120, with a £34 surcharge and £85 costs. He was banned for 36 months.

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