An Amazon delivery driver has been banned from the road by magistrates who heard an excess alcohol offence was likely to cost him his job.
Georgian Nichita, 31, was pulled over by police in Carlisle at 1.10am on Sunday, September 18. Two officers on uniform patrol in a marked vehicle spotted a silver Volkswagen Passat travelling through a red light from Botchergate on to Crown Street.
They activated blue lights as they followed the vehicle which was stopped on Lancaster Street. Driver Nichita was fully co-operative with officers and provided a positive test.
A further reading showed he had 51 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath — above the legal limit of 35mcg. At Carlisle Magistrates’ Court he admitted a drink-driving charge.
Ant Wilson, defending, said Nichita, of Argyll Street, Carlisle, was a man of previous good character who had shown full co-operation throughout the proceedings.
Of the looming, mandatory driving ban, Mr Wilson said to magistrates: “I’m asking you to keep it to a minimum in the circumstances. His income is derived from work as a delivery driver. There is a very high probability he is going to lose his job. He works for Amazon.”
Magistrates imposed a £400 fine, plus costs, and ordered Nichita to complete a 14-month driving ban. He agreed to take up the offer of a rehabilitation course which, if completed within a specified period, will reduce the period of disqualification by 14 weeks.
