A JOURNALIST was fined £300 and banned from driving for a year after pleading guilty at Teesside Magistrates Court yesterday to being drunk in charge of a vehicle.
Richard Barker, of Penryn Close, Darlington, a reporter with The Northern Echo, was breathalysed by police after he stopped his car in a lay-by off the A66, near Stockton.
The court was told that the 25-year-old had been drinking after having an argument with his partner. He decided to drive from his parents' home in Stokesley to Darlington, to resolve the argument.
Having realised he was over the drink-driving limit, he stopped his car in the lay-by, only to be approached by police officers. The court was told he was three times over the drink driving limit.
Barker pleaded guilty to being drunk in charge of a vehicle and magistrates banned him from driving for one year, fined him £300, and ordered him to pay £50 costs. The ban will be reduced to nine months on the completion of a driver rehabilitation course.
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