Driver faces ruin

York magistrates rejected Alan Francis Pearson's claims that he was not the man at the wheel of the vehicle when it crashed into a car on Dee Close, Foxwood, at 8.30pm on January 11.

They heard evidence that when police breathalysed him two-and-a-half hours later he gave a reading of 100 micrograms in 100 millilitres of breath, nearly three times the legal limit.

And they rejected his claim that all the alcohol came from drinks he had at home after 8.30pm. Pearson claimed he had drunk whisky. The magistrates said that he had admitted drinking in a pub before the time of the crash and said he was overestimating what he had drunk after 8.30pm "for obvious reasons".

After a trial, they convicted him of drink-driving and failure to stop after an accident.

Pearson, 51, of Greenwood Grove, Foxwood, had denied both charges. The magistrates fined him £1,000 plus £300 prosecution costs and banned him from driving for three years.

"His business cannot continue without his licence," said defence solicitor Harry Bayman. "It would have a devastating effect on him personally and others including other members of his family."

Pearson immediately lodged an appeal against both conviction and sentence and asked for the driving ban to be suspended until the Crown Court had heard the appeal.

Mr Bayman said the taxi and minibus business would fold within hours if the ban took effect because without a driving licence, Pearson could not keep his public operator's licence.

The defendant employed five drivers full-time and two part-time drivers. His sons and his wife earned their livelihood from the business.

"We would not wish to cause hardship to members of the family," said senior justice Maggie Bond as she and her colleagues suspended the entire sentence.

If Pearson loses his appeal he must serve the full ban and pay the full fine.

He has agreed to go on a drink-driver rehabilitation course. No date has yet been set for the appeal.

Updated: 09:21 Thursday, September 12, 2002