A “REMORSEFUL” drink-driver’s request to have his driving licence returned has been refused by magistrates who felt the three-year ban was “reasonable”.

Thomas Osborne, 23, was originally banned for drink-driving in February 2019, after driving on the A594 with 47mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mcg.

He was brought before the court again for driving with excess alcohol in May 2021. The reading was 68mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. He was disqualified for three years.

Osborne, of Bolton Park, Mealsgate, Wigton, applied to have the disqualification removed at a hearing held this week at West Cumbria Magistrates’ Court in Workington.

Police had objected to the application for removal of the disqualification.

Osborne told magistrates how “remorseful” he was for the offences. He said: “The punishment I have had so far has already impacted my life. It didn’t take me long to realise how guilty I felt.”

He said he had stopped drinking and found a passion for boxing. He described being “happy” and “settled” in his life after meeting his fiancée.

Osborne told magistrates: “I’m excited to see what else I can achieve in the coming years and keep achieving my goals. If I could ask the court to return my driving licence.

“I really regret every day the choices I made at that moment in my life.”

Mary Brough, lead magistrate, said: “We have been reading the summary of the offence. It was your second offence. You tried to avoid arrest. You ran off.

“What concerns me is on your conviction two years prior to that, you had the drink-drive rehabilitation course. It seems you didn’t learn from that.

“We have read all the positive letters you have handed in. We have noted you have not been in court since then. However, the sentence you were given at the time was reasonable and proportionate.

“We can’t find a justifiable reason for this disqualification to be removed so it will remain.”

https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/23651515.drink-drivers-request-lift-three-year-ban-refused-magistrates/