DORSET Police carried out 1,086 breath tests over Christmas during a drink driving crackdown.

Every driver committing a driving offence or involved in a collision between December 1 and January 1 was tested, with six per cent registering positive results.

In all, 35 people aged between 19 and 76 were charged during the campaign. Of these, 29 were men and six were women.

Traffic Unit Inspector Matt Butler said: “I am disappointed that there are still some motorists in Dorset who clearly think they are above the law and are willing to risk getting behind the wheel or on their bike after drinking.

“There are many consequences of drink-driving. You risk being caught by the police, appearing in court and losing your licence.

“You also put innocent lives at risk.”

He said information from the public had been invaluable during the campaign and urged people to report drink-driving by calling 999.

Among those arrested was serving soldier Danyal Johnson, 20, who now faces demotion or discharge from the army.

Johnson, of Bovington, was more than three times the drink drive limit when he got in his Renault Clio after a Christmas party on December 16.

The trainee engineer clipped army property causing £3,000 worth of damage before he was caught outside a Chinese restaurant.

District Judge Stephen Nicholls handed Johnson a 12-month unpaid work community order, an 18-month disqualification from driving and ordered him to pay £85 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.

Meanwhile, at Bournemouth Magistrates Court on January 9, Charles Goodall was fined £1,200 after admitting driving an Audi A3 in Suffolk Road, Bournemouth, while nearly three times the drink drive limit on December 13.

Goodall, of Melbury Osmond, Dorchester, was banned from driving for 24 months, and in addition he was ordered to pay £85 costs and a £120 victim surcharge.

Daniel Bracher, 20, of Coldharbour, Sherborne, was handed a 12-month disqualification after he pleaded guilty to drink-driving in Lenthay Road, Sherborne, on December 21.

He was fined £200, with £85 costs and a £20 victim surcharge.

Other drink-drivers caught on the same date were 55-year-old Karen Dudley and 29-year-old Haydn Thomas, who each admitted the offence.

Dudley, from Carbery Avenue, Bournemouth, was banned from driving for 24 months and fined £220, with £85 costs and £22 victim surcharge.

Thomas, of Erica Drive, Wimborne, was disqualified for six months and fined £110, with £85 costs and £20 victim surcharge.

Also sentenced in Bournemouth last week was Lila Keswick, 39, from Wakely Road, Bournemouth, who admitted drink-driving on December 23.

She was disqualified for 16 months and fined £110, with £105 in costs and £20 victim surcharge.

Decline in breath tests

A TOTAL of 1,086 breath tests were carried out by Dorset Police during last year’s Christmas campaign, compared with 1,848 in 2013. This year, 371 tests were carried out following collisions – with 59 fewer breath tests after crashes than in 2013 – and of these 20 were positive or the driver failed to provide a sample. Chief Inspector Debbie Marsden said: “While the total number of breath tests administered during the 2014 campaign is down from the previous year it is in line with the national trend.” Nationally, the 2014 Christmas crackdown saw 133,996 breath tests administered in England and Wales, compared with 191,040 in 2013.