Landlord may face licence action

A pub landlord has ben threatened with jail after pleading guilty to failing to provide a sample of breath to police.

And Darren Bond, who runs The Ploughshare at Beeston, could face further action by the authorities for the offence.

A licensing officer from Norfolk police says he will now study Bond's sentence and investigate the possibility of reviewing his premises licence.

Bond, 40, who lives at the pub, was sentenced to 14 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months and banned from driving for 30 months at Swaffham Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

He was told he must also attend a six-day alcohol rehabilitation course.

The court heard that Bond was stopped by police in the early hours of September 13 after a police patrol saw his Vauxhall Vectra car mount verges on the road between Litcham and Gressenhall.

Nicholas Crampton, prosecuting, said Bond had narrowly missed crashing into the officer's car, and when he stopped and got out of his Vectra he staggered towards the police vehicle before diving into a ditch. Bond refused to give a breath sample at the scene and later at the police station.

Bond, who represented himself in court, said: “All I can do is apologise. I do not know what happened and I cannot defend myself. I had no intention of leaving the pub and I really do not know what happened.”

The Ploughshare has had a chequered history in recent years. Bond took it on last September after selling his family home to invest in improvements to the premises.

After the hearing, Tony Grover, licensing officer for Norfolk police, said he and his team would study the sentence and look into the possibility of reviewing Bond's licence.

He said: “I will go to see Mr Bond and speak to him. Together with our legal team we will have to take a decision as to whether we take any further action.”