Man five times drink drive limit pleads guilty

A man who was stopped by members of the public in Stoke-on-Trent before being found to be five times the legal limit has admitted drink driving in court.

Steven Mahon, 44, of Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, appeared at the North Staffordshire Justice Centre on Wednesday (23 October) and pleaded guilty to driving a motor vehicle when alcohol level above the limit.

He was stopped by members of the public who saw him swerving dangerously while driving a Suzuki Swift on Potteries Way in Hanley on Tuesday (22 October).

They stopped him at the scene until we got there, pulling the keys out of the ignition so he couldn’t carry on driving. Mahon then gave a reading of 180 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – more than five times the legal limit of 35 micrograms.

When he got to custody, he was tested again. He gave a reading of 165 micrograms, putting him more than four times over the legal limit.

Mahon will be sentenced at the North Staffordshire Justice Centre on 27 January 2025.

PC Andrew Heard, from our new road crime team (RCT), was the officer in the case. He said: “I’d like to thank the members of the public who recognised the danger of Mahon’s actions and managed to stop him from causing harm to himself and other road users.

“Officers in the road crime team are carrying out proactive enforcement each and every day across Staffordshire to target those who don’t meet the expected standards we and local communities expect on our roads.”

To read more about our new dedicated road crime team, visit our website here: New 24/7 road crime team introduced to tackle priorities in Staffordshire | Staffordshire Police