A drink-driver from Ramsey, who only held a provisional licence, has been fined £1,600 and banned from the roads for five years.

Sixty-five-year-old Neil Edward Skillicorn was arrested after a civilian reported that he was smelling of alcohol before he got into his van.

He already had a conviction in 2023 for attempted drink-driving.

Skillicorn, who lives at Lezayre Road, appeared before magistrates on July 8, and was also ordered to take an extended driving test at the end of his ban, and to complete a drink-driving rehabilitation course.

The court heard that police received a 999 call on April 28, at 3.22pm.

A witness said Skillicorn had been smelling of alcohol, and had left a shop in Parliament Street in Ramsey, then got into his van.

Officers went to the defendant’s home, and he claimed he had just taken a large gulp of vodka.

He failed a subsequent breathalyser test and was arrested.

At police headquarters, a further test produced a reading of 50, but an expert’s report, which considered the vodka Skillicorn said he had drunk, concluded the reading would have been between 42 and 50.

Mr Swain said that the prosecution case would therefore be based on the lower reading of 42, above the limit of 35.

Checks also found that Skillicorn only held a provisional licence.

When interviewed, he denied driving the Parliament Street, but said he had driven to a car park in front of his house.

However, CCTV footage showed him in Parliament Street.

Duty advocate Helen Lobb asked for credit to be given for her client’s guilty pleas and said that there had been no complaint about the standard of driving.

Magistrates also ordered Skillicorn to pay £125 prosecution costs and he will pay all amounts at a rate of £20 per week.