A Manorbier man has been banned from getting behind the wheel of his vehicle for 40 months after admitting a drink-drive charge.

Thirty-two-year-old Matthew Thomas, of Gray Avenue, admitted the charge when he appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Prosecutor Ellie Morgan told magistrates how police were made aware of a domestic incident at 9.50 pm, on December 29, where the caller informed them that Mr. Thomas had left in his car after consuming alcohol that evening.

The defendant was stopped in the Manorbier area by a police officer on patrol and after a roadside test proved positive, he was arrested and taken to the police station where he gave a reading of 52 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of breath.

Mr. Thomas’s solicitor, Katy Hanson, told the court that her client had believed that he was under the limit as he had only consumed three small cans of lager between 12.30 and 6 pm that day.

“He is a self-employed builder and his driving licence is vital, so he is fearful of what the future will hold. The impact on his whole family will be quite dramatic,” she told the court, explaining that the defendant had a relevant previous conviction for drink-driving in 2010.

Magistrates disqualified Mr. Thomas from driving for 40 months, fined him £80 for the incident, and ordered him to pay costs of £85 and a £20 victim surcharge.