Drink-driver who collapsed in layby was more than four times legal limit

A man has been convicted of drink-driving after being found collapsed by the side of the road in Portslade.
By The Newsroom
Published 14th Jul 2016, 10:05 BST
Updated 14th Jul 2016, 11:10 BST

Michael Watts, 58, of Cokeham Lane, Sompting, was more than four times the legal limit when he was discovered on the floor beside his Renault Traffic van, which was parked in a layby on the A293 close to the A27.

Watts received a suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Monday July 11.

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Police and paramedics received a call from a concerned member of the public, who reported seeing a man get out of a van and collapse at about 2.15pm on Monday June 27.

Officers arrived and arrested the driver after he failed a roadside breath test.

Watts, a carpenter, was charged with driving with 159mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath in his system. The legal limit is 35mcg.

He was given a 12 week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months and disqualified from driving for 36 months. He was also ordered to carry out 40 hours of unpaid work in the next 12 months, and pay £85 costs and a £140 victim surcharge.

A total of 204 arrests were made in Sussex between Monday 6 June and Sunday 10 July as part of Operation Dragonfly, Surrey and Sussex Police’s summer crackdown on drink and drug-drivers.