Drunk Mansfield man who got behind wheel escapes driving ban

Officers watched a Ford S-Max enter the Tesco Express service station, on Lowmoor Road, Kirkby, at 3.30am on October 13, and found Marc Parkin at the wheel.

Prosecutor Robert Carr said: “He denied driving it and said he was in the car with other people he didn’t know.

“He said he jumped into the driver’s seat when the others got out.”

Chris Perry, mitigating, said Parkin, of previous good character, thought it “a jolly good idea to jump in the driver’s seat”, even though he was nearly three times over the limit.

He said officers had to acknowledge there was a gap between the time they spotted the car, and when they approached the vehicle.

He argued that Parkin should only receive points on his licence.

Parkin, 30, of Wharmby Avenue, admitted the motoring offence when he appeared at Nottingham Magistrates Court, on Friday.

He received ten points on his licence, and was fined £120, with £85 costs and a £30 government surcharge.