Five-year ban and suspended sentence for drink-driver

A man who had his two young children in his van was more than two and a half times the legal alcohol limit - and had already been caught drink-driving just weeks before.

Peter Leavey of Oak Road in Peel appeared before High Bailiff Jayne Hughes at Douglas Courthouse for sentencing after admitting two counts of drink-driving.

The court head on September 22, a bus driver reported the joiner to police after spotting him stumbling to his van on Christian Street in Peel.

Officers went to his home, but the 49-year-old claimed he'd only been drinking after he arrived there - an expert report later showed this wasn't true.

On October 8, members of the public called police after Leavey got into his van with his children in Shoprite Car Park on Derby Road.

Defence advocate Ian Kermode said his client had been an alcoholic for 25 years and was glad he'd been caught because it gave him a chance to address his problem, which he was now doing.

Mrs Hughes jailed him for 20 weeks, suspended for two years, and banned him from the roads for five years.

He was also ordered to pay £765 costs.