Carer loses licence after drink-driving
�The partner and full-time carer of a wheelchair-bound woman wept in the dock as he was convicted for drink-driving on Thursday.
Phillip Gatt, 45, of Bastable Avenue, Barking, was banned from driving for three years after pleading guilty to driving with excess alcohol before Redbridge magistrates.
It was his third conviction of this type in less than 10 years.
The court heard how police were called to Bastable Avenue, where they were dealing with a road traffic inquiry, at 9pm on February 6.
The crown prosecutor told the bench officers heard the sound of a camper van travelling towards them at speed.
You may also want to watch:
Skidded
When they ordered the driver to stop, he had to hit the brake hard and skidded.
Most Read
- 1 Man in 50s stabbed in Barking
- 2 Missing teenagers from Dagenham may be in Islington or Haringey
- 3 New community food club set to open in Barking and Dagenham
- 4 New CCTV footage in connection with 2017 fatal stabbing of Joshua Bwalya
- 5 Two men stabbed and a third slashed during We Are FSTVL
- 6 Chadwell Heath station assault witness appeal
- 7 The tea room in a country park 'building a community' in Dagenham
- 8 Barking and Dagenham, Newham named priority areas by Arts Council
- 9 Revellers descend on Dagenham for We Are FSTVL
- 10 Weekly Covid cases across east London revealed
Tests in the police station revealed Gatt had an alcohol level of 92 milligrammes in 100 millilitres of blood.
The legal limit is 80mg.
Gatt’s counsel said hospital trips for his wheelchair-bound partner, who accompanied him to court, would be of “utmost difficulty”.
But chairwoman of the bench, Anne Martin, said: “Unfortunately, there’s no discretion with regard to the driving ban which, because of your previous record, is three years.”
Gatt was ordered to pay a fine of �100 and �85 towards prosecution costs, as well as a �15 victims’ surcharge.
