Repeat Peterborough drink-driver jailed after he’s caught three times over limit

Officers from the Road Policing Unit were on the lookout for a white Ford Transit van on the evening of June 26 this year after a call was made to police about a suspected drink driver on the roads.

The team found the van in Fulbridge Road at about 6.40pm, with the manner of driving being described as ‘erratic’ and ‘all over the road’.

The van was pulled over and the driver, 42-year-old Paul McConnon, was found smelling strongly of alcohol, slurring his words and had blood-shot eyes.

He was asked to do a roadside breath test which gave an initial reading of 133 – the legal limit is 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

McConnon was arrested on suspicion of drink driving, and later further arrested after checks on the Police National Computer (PNC) revealed he was disqualified from driving until February 2022 for a previous drink-drive offence and also therefore had no valid insurance.

An evidential breath sample was taken in custody which gave a reading of 115, still more than three times the legal drink drive limit.

McConnon, of Andrews Crescent in Paston, was charged with drink driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance, all of which he admitted in court.

He appeared at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on Friday, 13 August, where he was sentenced to 14 weeks in prison.

He was also disqualified from driving for a further three years and must pay £128 to fund victims services.

PC Chris Euerby, from the Beds, Cambs and Herts Road Policing Unit, said: “McConnon has a detailed history of offending including drink driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.

“He clearly shows no regard for the law or the safety of other road users each and every time he makes the decision to illegally get behind the wheel.

“So far this year in Cambridgeshire alone there have been 377 arrests for drink-drive related offences, that’s more than 11 people every single week in 2021 up to now – this has to change.”

The force operates a dedicated, confidential hotline for members of the public to report drink or drug driving – 0800 032 0845 – which is available 24/7, and gives people the chance to supply the police with information to help reduce the number of drink or drug drivers on the county’s roads.

In the force’s new podcast series ‘Cambs Cops: Our Stories’, the episode ‘An avoidable tragedy – the anatomy of a fatal road collision’ hears from a mother whose 22-year-old daughter, Lauren, was killed in a collision caused by a drunk driver in 2016.

You can listen to it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TREoxS3YTXA&t=15s.

Information about drink driving including the law, penalties and how to report information to police can be found on the force website here https://bit.ly/3k6bFwt.