Sunderland man and passenger made the wrong decision on who should drive after drinking

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A do-gooder Sunderland driver who believed himself sober has been banned after a breathalyser blunder of his own making, a court heard.

Buzz Smith, 32, of Shields Road, near Fulwell, drank with a friend in South Shields, then volunteered to drive her car after she told him she was too drunk.

But he was stopped by police in the town’s Bents Park Road on Sunday, January 7, and breath tests showed he was over the limit - but she was not.

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His solicitor admitted to being baffled why both had been asked to blow when there was no doubt he had been driving and she was the passenger.

At South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, Smith pleaded guilty to drink driving and other motoring crimes and was banned from the roads for 14 months.

Prosecutor Paul Coulson said: “An officer’s attention was drawn to a Ford Fiesta which was travelling at speed.

“He signalled for the vehicle to stop and then spoke to the driver who smelled of intoxicating liquor.

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“A roadside breath test was positive for alcohol. It showed 58mcg. He was taken into custody.

“The breath test procedure was undertaken but the defendant had an issue with his lungs and so blood was taken.”

Smith, who also admitted driving without insurance and driving without a licence, gave a reading for alcohol in blood of 98mg. The limit is 80mg.

He has 11 previous convictions from 22 offences, the last for assault occasioning actual bodily harm in January last year.

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Paul McAlindon, defending, told magistrates: “I ask you to give Mr Smith full credit for his early guilty plea. He was fully compliant.

“He had been with a female friend. They were at an address when her former partner came, so they left.

“The vehicle was hers. They had both had something to drink. He didn’t think that he was over the limit, and she thought that she was.

“It turns out, bizarrely, that she was under the limit. We don’t know why the police breathalysed both at the roadside.

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“The police knew that he was the driver. He has some convictions and there are some driving matters but no drink-driving.”

Magistrates also fined Smith £140, with £85 court costs and a £56 victim surcharge.

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