Son caught drink driving on New Year’s Day after being woken by his mum for a lift

Daniel Mruk, 38, agreed to spare her a mile-long walk in the cold and jumped into his dad’s car to take her to the city’s Park Lane bus station.

But he had been celebrating the night before and was stopped by police as he returned home to Norton Road, Southwick.

Prosecutor Greg Flaxen said police saw Mruk driving without lights which he failed to turn on despite being repeatedly flashed to do so.

Mruk has been handed an interim driving ban ahead of sentencing in February.

Mr Flaxen said: “Officers flashed their lights in an attempt to make him aware his lights were off. He did not notice and continued to drive.

“They followed him for several streets, still flashing him, but he still failed to notice. His vehicle was being slowly driven and was swaying over the road.

“He was stopped and an unopened can of cider was found in his pocket.”

Mruk was arrested and taken to a police station where he gave a reading of 108mcg of alcohol in breath, against a legal limit of 35mcg.

At South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, he pleaded guilty to drink driving and driving without insurance on Sunday, January 1.

David Robinson-Young, defending, said Mruk had no previous criminal convictions and was previously of “impeccable character”.

He added: “Mr Mruk was celebrating with his family on New Year’s Eve. He had a number of beers and went to bed at 3am.

“His mother was working on New Year’s Day, but the buses were not working that day, unfortunately.

“She woke her son in the early morning and asked if he could take her to a bus stop where she was going to be picked up by a friend and taken to work.

“It was a distance of one-and-a-half miles. He felt ok to drive and drove her to the bus stop.”

Magistrates ordered a report into Mruk’s offending and he will be sentenced at the same court on Tuesday, February 7.