By Sammie Jones-
UK television presenter Chris Tarrant has been fined for drink driving after being reported to police by a fellow pub-goer.
The star had just enjoyed four brandy and ports at the Bladebone Inn in Bucklebury, Berkshire, before driving home over the limit, Reading Magistrates Court heard.
Tarrant was also banned from driving for a year. The news is a blow to the reputation of the loved British television star who is a huge let down to his fans and all decent members of the British public. Tarrant is expected to be a shining example to the public, not a reckless breaker of the law.
After the hearing, embarrassed Tarrant told reporters: “I made a mistake and I paid for it. I shouldn’t have driven.”
The Who Wants to be a Millionaire host was discovered to have 50 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.
The 71-year-old said he honestly didn’t think he had been over the legal limit when he got in his Mercedes to drive the home on 16 December. Tarrant shouldn’t have been driving at all whilst drinking, he should know that.
Prosecutor Hasrat Ali told the hearing that staff and drinkers at the pub were “concerned that he had decided to drive home”.
“One member of the public had noticed that Mr Tarrant had stumbled near the bar area,” she said. The discussion in the pub led to a member of the public phoning the police. One pub goer present tweeted that,the star had been asked if he wanted a taxi, to which he replied ”No”. He was then asked if it was his final answer.
Within thirteen minutes from the call officers arrived at Tarrant’s home in Osgoods Gully, Bucklebury.
Ms Ali said: “He claimed that he had just drank three glasses of wine just prior to police arriving,”
BREATH TEST
The court was told by Ms Ali that, after failing a breath test and being taken to the police station, Tarrant “gave a different version of events in the sense that it wasn’t three glasses of wine that he had drank, that in fact he had a large glass of brandy and a glass of wine”.
Simon Ray, mitigating for Tarrant, said the drinks that were bought in the pub were not all consumed by his client
PRESENTER
Tarrant joined Capital radio as a presenter in 1984, then began to host the popular television quiz show who wants to be a millionaire in 1998. The format of the show was sold to over 100 other countries, making it a huge success. The television star has been a success in many other shows and was a winner at the special recognition at the ”2000 National Television” Awards
Tarrant divorced his second wife Ingrid Duprid Walsh in 2007 after a 16 year marriage work. The marriage broke down following a “close” relationship he had with Fiona McKechnie, a schoolteacher and co-patron for Headway. Tarrant will continue to be loved by the British public, but he will also be expected to be a good example to the public and not the poor role model his actions present him to be.