Taking a break from watching the football to do his brother a favour led to a Milford Haven man being banned from driving for a year.

Stuart Spillane, of Dartmouth Street, pleaded guilty to driving while over the legal alcohol limit when he appeared before Haverfordwest magistrates on Tuesday, June 26.

The court heard that a Citroen Saxo pulled in to let a police car pass as officers responded to a call in Dartmouth Gardens, Milford Haven, at 9.30pm on June 10.

Officers decided to speak to the driver, in case he had information about the call, and could smell alcohol on Spillane’s breath as they approached him.

He was found to have 44mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, the legal limit is 35mg.

Mike Kelleher, defending, told the bench that Spillane, 29, had no intention of driving that evening and was in the middle of watching a football match when his brother asked him for a quick lift.

“He had drank one can and thought he would be ok. Unfortunately, the previous evening, while watching the football, he drank considerably more than that.”

Mr Kelleher added that Spillane worked as a forklift driver, but hoped to retain his job if he could secure lifts to the site.

Magistrates banned him from driving for 12 months and fined him £300. He was ordered to pay £85 court costs and a £30 surcharge.