Drink-driving footballer caught following team bus he should have been on

Jack Duggan had been on the team minibus, but he got off a mile before his home so he could collect his car ready for work.

The 18-year-old of Lower Trewern, Penybont, admitted drink-driving in a Ford Fiesta on the A44 on March 23 when he appeared at Llandrindod Wells Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

Prosecuting, Mr James Sprunks said tests showed he had 69 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit being 35 microgrammes.

Mitigating, Mr Peter Wilcox-Jones said Duggan was ashamed and sorry for what he done.

He said there were no passengers in his car and he was stopped while following the minibus he should have been on.

He said Duggan plays football for Penybont, is a Young Farmers Club member and is training to be a plumber at Newtown College. He has just been given an apprenticeship two days a week at a local business but he did not know if he would still be able to keep that and he helps on the family farm.

Magistrates banned him from driving for 18 months and he was offered the chance to attend a drink-driver’s rehabilitation course. He was fined £200 and will have to pay £85 costs and a £80 surcharge.