A FATHER-OF-TWO was nearly twice the legal limit when he was stopped driving by police in Ellesmere Port.
William Francis Cowie, 51, of Naylor Road, Ellesmere Port drove his Ford Fiesta on Overpool Road with 63 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath.
“At midnight a police officer on patrol on the road spotted Cowie’s car coming toward him at excess speed,” Christopher Murphy, prosecuting, told Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston Magistrates Court on Friday.
“He noticed the vehicle swerved with the offside over the centre of the road.
“It swerved again close to the kerb before it straightened up.”
The officer pulled over the car and conducted a roadside breath test, which was positive.
Cowie, a chemical process operator who works in Bromborough, had previously held a full driving licence for 24 years.
Chris Hunt, defending, argued it would be impossible for Cowie to do shift work if disqualified.
He said: “He had something to drink at teatime and spent a few hours at a girlfriend’s house and drank there.”
District judge Andrew Shaw banned Cowie from driving for 16 months and fined him £350. He was also ordered to pay £85 court costs and a £15 victim’s surcharge.
