A DAD was caught drink-driving for the third time after a crash near a Carlisle McDonald’s while his wife and two children were also in the car.

Gavin Walton, 36, was brought before the city’s magistrates’ court after an incident at around 5pm on Saturday, 2nd November.

Prosecutor Diane Jackson said: “Police had been made aware of a road traffic accident on London Road, near to McDonald’s. Officers attended. Upon arriving at the scene there was a Vauxhall Astra with front end damage."

Walton identified himself as the driver and confirmed he was involved in a collision.

He failed a breath test at the scene.

The lower of two evidential readings taken in custody showed 47 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal driving limit is 35mcg.

In court, Walton, of Edgehill Road, Carlisle, admitted a drink-driving charge.

The court heard Walton had two relevant previous convictions — in 2016 and 2019. Both were for drink-driving.

This meant he faced a minimum three-year driving ban for committing two or more similar crimes inside a decade.

Pirelli factory worker Walton, not legally represented in court, told magistrates he had finished a Friday night shift before the offence occurred on 2nd November. “When I got back home I had a skinful,” said Walton, who indicated that time elapsed between him drinking and then getting behind the wheel.

That occurred later on when, with his wife and two children in the car, he was involved in the collision near to McDonald’s.

“I made an error of judgement,” he admitted. “I had my wife and children in the car. It’s the last thing I would want to do. I just apologise for that.”

Walton admitted that a lengthy driving ban would affect “everything” as he needed his licence to transport his children and also travel to work.

Magistrates fined Walton £461 and imposed a 40-month driving ban.

He accepted the offer of a rehabilitation course which, if completed on time, would reduce the length of his disqualification by 40 weeks.