Drunk-driving estate agent banned from driving for two years

An estate agent has pleaded guilty to a charge of drink-driving after being found almost three times above the legal alcohol limit.

Wolverhampton’s Express & Star newspaper reports that Nicholas Berriman - which it describes as “well known” and “wealthy” - drove his daughter to buy fish and chips at Borth in Wales, but fell asleep while the car was stationary. His daughter telephoned the police saying she could not wake her father. 

The newspaper says police and ambulance service attended, only to find Berriman driving his Range Rover away from the scene.

The officers described his driving as ‘erratic’ and after he overtook some vehicles he was stopped. At this point his daughter, who was in the passenger seat, was described as ‘scared’ and in tears.

The court was shown documents suggesting that Berriman, a partner in Midlands estate agency Berriman Eaton, makes £200,000 a year. The court heard that he was initially “hostile and uncooperative” and refused to give officers his keys, although he eventually consented to a roadside breath test, which gave a positive reading.

A sample taken at Aberystwyth Police Station showed 95mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath - almost three times the legal limit of 35mcg, the newspaper reports.

Berriman told the court he was “very sorry” and recognised that his actions had endangered himself and others.

His defence said he had been on holiday with his daughter at a caravan he owned in Borth. At lunchtime he consumed around four glasses of wine.