Drink driver crashed at Huthwaite lights

A boozed-up man who drove into the back of a car at traffic lights in Huthwaite may lose his job because of the inevitable ban, a court heard.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.Mansfield Magistrates Court.
Mansfield Magistrates Court.

Air conditioning engineer Joe Wheatcroft fell out with his pals after drinking wine and was driving home when the crash happened on Common Lane, at 5.30am, on September 22.

The car he hit was shunted into another vehicle, and a witness confiscated the keys to his company VW Caddy until police arrived, said prosecutor Robert Carr.

A test revealed he had 76 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, when the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Amy Godson, mitigating, said Wheatcroft was an “exemplary employee” but his bosses would have to reconsider his employment, if he was disqualified for longer than six months.

She said the dad-of-one, who had no previous convictions, had been struggling with depression, following the death of his younger brother.

Wheatcroft, 22, of Broadacre Way, Tibshelf, admitted drink driving, when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Friday.

He was banned for 20 months, but was offered a drink drive rehabilitation course, which will reduce the disqualification by 152 days if completed by November 2019.

He was fined £300, and ordered to pay £85 court costs and a government surcharge of £30.

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