A MOTORIST who drove while drunk in a nightclub car park tried to fight a driving ban in court, but was told by a judge his story of events was “unconvincing”.

Gary Seward, a director of Childsplay Adventureland, in Colchester, appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court to claim the only reason he was driving was to find somewhere to park for the night before getting a taxi home.

Seward was spotted by police driving his £100,000 Land Rover out of the Escape nightclub car park, in London Road, Copford, and then reversing back again in the early hours of January 28.

He was breathalysed and found to have 43 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

District Judge David Cooper was shown CCTV footage of the incident and heard evidence from nightclub manager, Damien Stone.

Simon Bravery, prosecuting, claimed Seward, who admitted drink driving at an earlier hearing, was intending to drive his car to his home in Green Lane, Aldham, and only reversed back after spotting a police car waiting outside.

Seward, who had a friend on the front passenger seat at the time, said he was parking his car outside the gates because he wanted to pick the car up early the next morning, after Mr Stone advised him the car park was closed overnight.

Rakesh Sharma, mitigating, said: “He left the night club at around 1.30am and intended to get a taxi home.

“The intention was to park the car in a place outside the car park, as advised by the nightclub manager.”

Judge Cooper banned Seward from driving for 12 months as well as ordering him to pay a £350 fine, £85 in prosecution costs and a £15 surcharge.

He said: “This was an enviably magnificent vehicle of a very high standard.

“I can’t see how anyone would think, ‘I’m going to park my £100,000 vehicle outside the gates of Escape for the night’.

“I think anyone of us would feel very nervous about doing that, even in our more modest vehicles.”

“And if he really was just going to park, why did the other chap get in the car with him, just to go through the exit and then go back?

“I think it is very hard to believe it was just being driven to park up and I can’t accept there were special reasons that would allow me to refuse to disqualify you.”