Drink-drivers snared in Essex Police's Christmas drink-drive crackdown have been banned from the roads.

Eight motorists admitted driving while over the limit at Colchester Magistrates' Court yesterday.

Mum Sarah Probyn had two of her children in the back of her car in Colchester on November 12 when a breath test showed 56mcgs of alcohol. The legal limit is 35mcg.

The 24-year-old, of Straight Road, Colchester, was banned for 12 months and fined £66.

Police followed Scott Farrer's car for one-and-a-half miles through Mistley before stopping him on December 5.

A breath test showed the 25-year-old, of Harts Lane, Ardleigh, was more than twice the legal limit with 90mcgs of alcohol.

Farrer was banned for 24 months and handed an 80-hour community punishment order.

Pebmarsh shopfitter John Logan had 85mcgs of alcohol when he was stopped and breath-tested on his way home to Oak Road from the village pub.

He told the court his house had been flooded and builders who made repairs while he was working away had left the keys at the King's Head for him to collect. He was banned for 20 months and fined £350.

The court heard 40-year-old Keith Owden's livelihood could be in danger after a blood test showed 90mgs of alcohol as he drove his camper van in Colchester on October 8. The legal limit is 80mg.

The self-employed builder, of Belleview Road, Wivenhoe, was banned for 12 months and fined £150.

Dean Lindoe, 20, of Blackbrooke Road, Colchester, was banned for 12 months and fined £150 after police pulled him over in Sheepen Road, Colchester, on November 20. A breath test showed he had 53mcgs of alcohol.

Officers stopped warehouseman John Dawson, of Vista Road, Clacton, after he narrowly avoided a collision with a police car in the town's King's Avenue on October 29.

The 42-year-old dad-of-one was banned for 12 months and fined £200 after a blood test showed he had 85mgs of alcohol.

Qualified mechanic Ashley Dick was speeding in Meadow Way, Jaywick, when police stopped and breathalysed him. A test showed the 18-year-old, of Point Clear Road, St Osyth, had 41mcgs of alcohol. He was banned for 12 months and fined £65.

A breath test on Ashley Marley, of Church Road, Tiptree, showed 68 mcgs of alcohol when he was stopped on November 25.

The 23-year-old was disqualified for 16 months and fined £150.

All the defendants opted to reduce their sentences by one quarter by enrolling on a course for drink-drive offenders.

The Gazette's Christmas drink-drive campaign has won the praise of one of Essex's top police officers.

Assistant Chief Constable John Broughton welcomed our efforts to convince people not to drink and drive and said he was sure it had made a difference.

Mr Broughton, who has overall responsibility for road policing in Essex, said: "We would commend the paper in doing what you are doing with the campaign.

"Essex Police is committed to making Essex a safer place and clearly people who are driving under the influence of drink or drugs are contributing towards reducing the safety for innocent members of the public driving around on the roads."

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Published Friday, December 24, 2004

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