Ban for drink-driver who churned up lawn with car

A Deeping St Nicholas man who churned up a lawn with his car had been drinking beer and spirits while watching rugby at a friend’s house, a court has heard.

Daniel Lee Beeken (39) of Campain’s Lane, Deeping St Nicholas admitted driving with excess alcohol and causing damage to a lawn and garden, when he appeared at Boston Magistrates Court.

Prosecuting, Marie Stace said a house owner called the police at 11.10pm on February 11 when he saw a BMW car on his lawn in West Pinchbeck.

The house owner told officers the car was stuck on the lawn and was revving up, churning up the grass and that the driver only gave up when smoke started coming out of the engine.

Ms Stace said Beeken told officers that he had drunk cans of beer and spirits and after a positive breath test, he was arrested, giving a reading of 89 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

He told officers he had been at a friend’s house watching the rugby and did not feel drunk when he set off for home.

She said he told them he had pulled into a cul-de-sac to make a phone call and had then reversed and gone into the garden and got stuck.

The magistrates adjourned the case until March 26 for a report from the Probation Service and gave Beeken an interim driving ban until that date.