Leeds PCSO facing sack after drink drive conviction

Michael Driscoll, 58, was off duty when he had a “chance meeting” with two other officers in Wetherby, Leeds Magistrates’ Court heard.

Prosecutor Simon Broad said: “They noticed alcohol on his breath and, concerned that he would be driving, they alerted their colleagues.

“By the time they got to him he had driven off in his car.”

Driscoll, of Wetherby, blew a reading that showed he was more than twice the legal limit when he was breath-tested at the roadside on Victoria Street last June 27.

He initially denied drink driving, but changed his plea to guilty yesterday.

Stephen Oldham, mitigating, said Driscoll would have a West Yorkshire Police disciplinary hearing next month.

Mr Oldham said his client, a grandfather of two, had no excuse for the offence.

He added: “This incident has hit Mr Driscoll particularly hard. He’s finding it difficult to come to terms with what he has done.

“Mr Driscoll is currently technically a serving community support officer, a job he has held for the last ten years.

“It’s a job he enjoyed, but he will lose the job as a result of this conviction.”

He said Driscoll had gained help for alcohol problems since the incident.

Driscoll was banned from driving for 20 months and fined £250.

He was also ordered to pay £310 in court costs.