A RESTAURANT manager from Carlisle was caught drink driving as he returned to his workplace to retrieve his mobile phone.

Harry Slater, 33, told a probation worker he felt “ashamed, humiliated and embarrassed” by the offence, which involved him driving while just over three times over the legally prescribed limit.

He pleaded guilty to the offence.

The city’s Rickergate court heard that Slater had enjoyed a drink with colleagues after work on September 29 and travelled home at 10pm. After arriving there, he realised he had left his mobile phone at work.

“He said he then made the ‘awful’ decision to go back [to his workplace] to collect it,” the probation officer told magistrates. Police stopped his Vauxhall Astra car on Dacre Road in Carlisle because they were concerned about his driving.

The car was seen “weaving” in the road at one stage, the court heard.

When the defendant was formally breathalysed, he produced a reading of 108mcg of alcohol in every 100mls of breath. The legal limit for driving is 35mcg.

Kate Hunter, defending, said Slater had written a letter to the court, expressing how deeply he regrets this actions on the night in question. He apologised for his error of judgement in getting to the car that night.

He understood that what he had done was “ridiculously stupid” that that his error had come at a cost. Miss Hunter said she believed the remorse expressed by Slater was genuine.

She handed character references into the court, including from his employer at the restaurant; they clearly valued the defendant, and also references from some of Slater’s friends speaking of his good character.

The probation officer who interviewed Slater said she had a clear understanding of his offending, though there was no direct victim. 

Magistrates imposed a 12-month community order, which includes 80 hours of unpaid work. The defendant was also given a 25-month driving ban, as well as costs of £85 and a £114 victim surcharge.

The defendant, of Rashdall Road, Carlisle, was offered the drink driver rehabilitation course, which if completed by a deadline will reduce the length of his ban by 25 weeks.