Bar manager caught drink-driving

Having a couple of drinks after finishing work as a bar manager led to a Buxton man being caught drink-driving, a court heard.
High Peak Magistrates Court, Buxton.High Peak Magistrates Court, Buxton.
High Peak Magistrates Court, Buxton.

Mark Keane, 35, was stopped after police saw him travelling at speed through Hope at 2am on March 6, High Peak Magistrates’ Court heard.

Jennifer Fitzgerald, prosecuting, said officers lost sight of the VW Passat for a short while, before they saw the vehicle turning onto the Market Place.

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When spoken to by officers, Keane, the only occupant of the vehicle, was slurring his speech and his eyes were glazed, the court was told.

The defendant failed a roadside breath test, and later at the police station he provided a reading in breath of 60, the legal limit is 35.

Annis Rowlands, defending, said: “Mr Keane was living and working in the Hope Valley.

“At that time he was working as a bar manager at a hotel in that locality.

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“It was customary for staff to be offered a complimentary drink when they finished their shift and that is what occurred.

“He had two drinks, but it put him over the limit.”

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The court was told that Keane had finished his job in the Hope Valley, was now living in Buxton and had secured other employment.

Magistrates banned him from driving for 17 months, but gave the defendant the option of reducing the ban by completing a drink-driver rehabilitation course.

Keane, of Fairfield Road, must also pay a £162 fine, £200 costs and a £20 surcharge.