Driving instructor was over the limit

Wayne Denton, who ran Dentz Driving Academy, was stopped by police and breathalysed on November 9.

Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court heard Denton, 45, was sat behind the wheel but slurring his words when officers spoke to him.

The police had initially pulled over the Citroen DS3 because it had L plates on it and only one person in it, leading them to carry out a spot check to make sure the person in the vehicle was legally qualified to drive alone.

A roadside breath test produced a reading of 46 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, putting Denton over the drink-drive limit of 35.

Officers then arrested him.

The incident happened on Chapel Street in Leigh.

Denton, of Chestnut Lane in the Pennington area of Leigh, pleaded guilty to the offence of drink-driving in the dock and was disqualified from the road for 12 months by the magistrates.

The Facebook page for his business has had to be taken down as the driving ban is applied immediately in court.

Martin Jones defended Denton in court.

As well as the driving ban the bench fined Denton £120 for the offence and also ordered him to pay a victim’s surcharge of £30 and £85 in costs.

Denton will be able to reduce his driving ban by 13 weeks if he completes a rehabilitation course by a date in June 2018.

Magistrates said they had taken Denton’s guilty plea at the first opportunity into account when imposing the final penalty.