A DRINK driver has finally faced justice – more than a year after he was caught driving at twice the legal alcohol limit.

Simone Russo, 26, went back to Italy after his arrest on February 25 last year and after he was told to attend court on April 5 last year, York magistrates heard.

Though he returned to the UK after April 5, he didn’t tell police or the court he was back in the country, and was eventually arrested on a court warrant.

Russo, of Walmgate, York, pleaded guilty to drink driving and failure to answer bail.

Magistrates banned him from the roads for 20 months and fined him £233 with £85 prosecution costs and a £30 statutory surcharge.

For him, James Fox-McGowan said he had spent two nights in a police cell following his arrest on Saturday March 23 and his first court appearance on Monday March 25.

He spent long hours working as a chef earning money for his wife and children who live in Italy.

Kathryn Reeve, prosecuting, said Russo narrowly missed a police van and hit the kerb as he did a U-turn in Goodramgate. So they breathalysed him and he gave a reading of 70 micrograms on 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.