A HUSBAND and wife were both detained for drink driving after he went to her aid in a car crash, Bournemouth magistrates heard.

Charles Fitch, 75, was so worried when he was told his wife had been involved in an accident that he set off from his home to look for her, the court was told.

But when he arrived at the scene, police suspected he had been drinking and breath-tested him at the roadside.

Fitch did not know his wife, Kathryn Mason, had also been breathalysed and both were charged with offences, committed on Saturday December 14.

Court 4 of Bournemouth magistrates heard Fitch, a former aircraft engineer and company director, had an alcohol level of 62 – the legal limit is 35.

He admitted having “a couple of whiskies” and was banned from driving for 12 months, fined £400 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £40 victim surcharge.

Meanwhile in Court 3, 59-year-old Mason admitted to driving with an alcohol level of 74 – more than twice the legal limit – and was banned for 17 months, fined £350 and told to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £35.

The court was told Mason’s black Peugeot 207 was involved in a collision in Pinehurst Road, West Moors just after 9pm as she was returning home from a club.

Fitch went to look for her “slowly and carefully” in his Vauxhall Astra and was arrested after speaking to police officers on the A31, near the scene of the crash.

The couple live at Nouale Lane in Poulner, Ringwood.

They are two of the 65 people charged with drink and drug driving-related offences during the Dorset Police Christmas and New Year campaign against the offences.

Many have already appeared before magistrates in Bournemouth and Weymouth with more due to face the music during the rest of January.

Other cases dealt with by Bournemouth magistrates: Laura Jane Jackman, 24, from Wimborne, banned from driving for 17 months, £300 fine, £85 costs, £30 victim surcharge.

David James Norton, 34, of Poole, banned from driving for 17 months, £400 fine, £85 costs, £40 victim surcharge.

Thomas Jeffrey Horseman, 23, of New Milton, banned from driving for 18 months, £150 fine, £85 costs, £20 victim surcharge.

Colin Robert Brooker, 46, of Poole, banned from driving for 17 months, £300 fine, £85 costs, £30 victim surcharge.

Tyrone Lee Carter, 28, of Tedder Road, Bournemouth, banned from driving for 14 months, £200 fine, £85 costs, £20 victim surcharge Matthew Sherrin, 35, of Malmesbury Close, Christchurch, banned from driving for 12 months, £700 fine, £85 costs, £70 victim surcharge.

Anthony Badgley, 24, of Guildhill Road, Bournemouth, banned from drivng for 12 months, £300 fine, £30 victim surcharge.

Christopher Russell Henley, 29, of Clive Road, Bournemouth, banned from driving for 18 months, £300 fine, £85 costs, £30 victim surcharge.