Darren Day gets five-year ban after second drink-drive offence in 2 years

ENTERTAINER Darren Day has been banned from the road for five years and fined £1,250 for his second drink-driving offence in two years.

• Darren Day outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court. Picture: Kate Chandler

Day, 41, had admitted getting behind the wheel while over the legal alcohol limit and failing to stop after an accident.

He was found to have 58mg/ml of alcohol on his breath after the incident in Edinburgh's West End a week before Christmas. The legal limit is 35mg/ml.

He was arrested in the early hours of 18 December while starring in the hit Queen musical We Will Rock You at the Playhouse Theatre.

He had only recently returned to the road after being disqualified for 18 months for drink- driving in Cardiff in 2008.

Sentencing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday followed a short trial in which Day was further convicted of possessing an offensive weapon, a martial arts stick called a kubotan.

Day spoke of his relief after the matter was dealt with yesterday.

He said: "I'm very relieved it's over. I am deeply sorry and ashamed of what's happened, especially for my family.

"I'm just very keen to move on now with my career and my life and leave it behind me."

Day, of Cudworth, South Yorkshire, originally faced six charges after the accident. In court, he admitted two charges, failing to stop at the scene of the accident and driving while over the drink-drive limit.

Sheriff William Holligan disqualified Day from driving for five years and fined him 900 in relation to the drink-driving offence. He fined him a further 350 for failing to stop at the scene.

Day avoided having his Mercedes confiscated under a new crackdown on repeat offenders, after saying the car was in his wife's name and it was still subject to a hire-purchase agreement.

The court heard yesterday that a woman spotted Day getting out of the car and opening the bonnet, before starting the engine and driving away. She noticed that a lamp-post had been knocked down, and contacted police at about 3:30am.

Neil Allan, prosecuting, said of the car: "It was apparent it had been extensively damaged at the front end." He added that the airbags had inflated.

The court heard that Day was tracked down by police shortly after they were alerted, in the Balfour Street area.

Bobby Frazer, defending, said Day had received some "distressing" news from his wife and decided to go for one drink with people involved in the musical. Later, some remarks were made by people who recognised him, and as a result he ended up having three drinks.

Day was also convicted yesterday of possessing an offensive weapon, a self-defence keychain called a kubotan, after a two-day trial before the sheriff.

He was admonished on that charge.