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A primary school head caught behind the wheel while over the legal limit for drink has been banned from driving for a year.
Clive Close, who was in charge of Wincheap Primary at the time of the offence, was stopped by police acting on a tip-off.
The 56-year-old was leaving Canterbury in his Audi sports car after a night out with friends when he was pulled over.
At Canterbury Magistrates Court today, prosecutor Neil Sweeney told the court how police “acting on information” stopped him in New Dover Road at around 10.30pm on December 17.
Close failed a roadside breathtest and was arrested and taken to the police station where, after failing a second test on the intoxometer, opted for a blood test.
Mr Sweeney said the result later revealed he had 93 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrammes.
"He didn’t feel at all impaired to drive and decided to drive - a decision he now regrets. He was shocked to find he was over the limit..." - Hugh Roberts, defending
Close, of Church Lane, Ripple, near Deal, who now works for Ofsted, admitted driving the vehicle with excess alcohol.
Hugh Roberts, defending, said: “He had been out for a private dinner with friends and shared a bottle of wine but also drunk a lot of water.
“He had paid for his car to be parked until the following morning and was planning to get a lift home. But he didn’t feel at all impaired to drive and decided to drive - a decision he now regrets.
“He was shocked to find he was over the limit and apologises to the court. The disqualification will affect him significantly because he lives in a rural area.”
Banning him from driving for a year and fining him £800 plus £85 costs and an £80 victim surcharge, the presiding magistrate said: “I imagine for a man of your standing, you are very upset with yourself.”
He was offered the chance to take a drink driving rehabilition course which would reduce the length of his disqualification by 25%.
Close declined to comment after the hearing saying it was “a private matter”.
Close, from Ripple in Deal, had worked at Wincheap Primary for six years after joining in 2008 and left the school two days after the offence to join Ofsted.
The former warrant officer and bandmaster had been in the Royal Marines for 24 years, but left to study for a postgraduate certificate in education at Canterbury Christ Church University.
He hit the headlines in 2012 after staging a hoax armed abduction at Wincheap Primary as part of a lesson to help his pupils write descriptively.
He drew criticism after donning a bright red wig and bundling the school caretaker into his Audi in front of shocked pupils – who had not been warned about the stunt.
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