Cumbrian Drink-Driver Faces Longer Ban After Aggressive Behaviour

On 18 November, police were called at around 9.15 am after reports of a Volkswagen Caddy panel van being driven erratically on Houghton Road, on the outskirts of Carlisle. Officers located the vehicle and identified the driver as 37-year-old Daniel Kerr of Stanley Road, Brampton.
Kerr appeared to be heavily intoxicated and repeatedly refused to take a breath test, forcing officers to handcuff him due to his aggressive behaviour. While in custody, he even injured himself by banging his head against a desk and had to be placed in a cell.
He eventually calmed down and provided a breath sample, which revealed 46 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath above the UK legal limit of 35 micrograms.
Kerr pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol when he appeared at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court. The court was told he was of previously good character and had worked as a professional driver for two decades, a career now at risk due to the conviction.
Magistrates fined Kerr £120 and increased his driving disqualification from 12 to 14 months in light of his conduct towards police. However, he was offered the opportunity to undertake a drink-drive rehabilitation course completion of which could reduce his ban by 14 weeks if finished within a specified timeframe.
Road safety campaigners and police forces across Cumbria continue to remind drivers that drink-driving offences carry serious penalties, including fines, disqualification, and even custodial sentences in more severe cases.