WHAT shall we do with a drunken sailor? That was the question considered at York Crown Court in the case of a trawler skipper who admitted running his vessel aground near Filey while over the legal alcohol limit.

George Wood, 52, captain of the Honeybourne III, took the vessel out from Scarborough for a training exercise off the North Yorkshire coast in August.

However, the ship ran aground on rocks and had to be pulled free by another trawler.

After returning to shore with his crew, police later found Wood, of Treebank Crescent, Ayr, was still over the legal alcohol limit following a night of celebrations for his birthday the previous evening.

The scallop fisherman was found to have 81 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath – more than twice the legal limit of 35 microgrammes.

The court heard yesterday he also had previous maritime convictions, including travelling the wrong way down the English Channel, which resulted in a £3,000 fine.

Wood, who first went to sea aged 15 and was a skipper for 21 years, also lost his job after admitting being over the prescribed limit while in charge of a boat.

However, James Withyman, defending, said it was unlikely Wood ran aground as a result of being over the limit, but as a consequence of the difficult training manoeuvres he was undertaking at the time. Sentencing Wood, Judge James Spencer told him: “The shame you must feel having let your vessel run aground – one can only begin to imagine.

“That you were found at the time to be over the limit with alcohol, may lead one to suppose that the two things were connected.

“The manoeuvre you were attempting was very close to the shore and, considering this you could have gone aground at any time.” Judge Spencer fined Wood £1,000, but said: “I am doing that because you have lost your job and you stand the prospect of losing your master’s ticket.

“It seems to me those punishments are severe in themselves.”

Wood will now face a further disciplinary hearing to determine whether he can keep his certificate of competency, the equivalent of a driving licence.