A Milford man stopped by police due to the manner of his driving has appeared in court to plead guilty to getting behind the wheel of his car whilst exceeding the prescribed limit of alcohol.

Twenty-nine-year-old Gareth Phillips, of Dewsland Street, appeared before Haverfordwest magistrates, on Tuesday, on a charge of driving his Ford Focus on Marble Hall Road, in Milford Haven, whilst over the limit.

Prosecutor Abdul Hussain told magistrates that police officers on duty in the area on November 1, saw Mr. Phillips heading towards their direction in his car, and due to the manner of his driving, they followed him.

“Officers could smell alcohol on his breath when they pulled him over, and a roadside test proved positive,” he said.

A reading of 40 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath was given at the police station.

Defence solicitor Mike Kelleher told the court that it was not a deliberate attempt by Mr. Phillips to flout the law.

“As you can see from the reading, he was literally one point over the limit.

“Mr. Phillips had been out for pool night and had a couple of beers. He felt that he should have been ok to drive, so it was a miscalculation on his part, one that has extreme consequences as he is a builder and it will impact on his contracting work.

“He is also separated from his two children and sees them every other weekend in Tredegar, so as a result, both he and his children will suffer,” continued Mr. Kelleher, explaining that Mr. Phillips was even considering moving to be closer to his children.

Magistrates disqualified the defendant from driving for 12 months and fined him £165 for the offence.

Mr. Phillips was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £85 and a £30 victim surcharge.