A motorist who was more than twice the legal drink drive limit has been banned from the roads.

Selyami Dzhelil, 35, appeared at Weymouth Magistrates' Court where he admitted driving a vehicle while above the legal limit.

Christina Norgan, prosecuting, said that at approximately 9.50pm on June, 12 2024, police officers were stationed at a roundabout in Blandford where West Street and Bournemouth Road meet.

The officers were approached by a member of the public who informed them that a car was being driven "very poorly."

They subsequently located the car and followed it to Morrisons car park when they watched the driver park diagonally across two parking bays. 

When officers approached the defendant they noted an "overwhelming" smell of alcohol from the car.

The driver was arrested and taken to custody in Weymouth where a breath test was taken at 10.40pm - an hour later.

He was found to have an alcohol level of 77 microgrammes of alcohol per 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mcg.

Simon Lacey, mitigating, said the case "is what it is" in that Dzhelil "felt fit to drive but clearly was not." 

He told the court how Dzhelil, of East Street, Blandford, had arranged to meet a friend at Morrisons and had been driving earlier in the day. 

He also noted that at that particular time of night, the car park was not particularly busy and Dzhelil was fully co-operative with police. 

Stephen Takel, chair of the magistrates’ bench told Dzhelil: " The way you feel about whether you're too drunk to drive is different to when it is actually tested. 

"The test shows you had too much alcohol in your system to drive. 

"You may have felt fine but you weren't fine to drive."

The defendant was disqualified from driving for 20 months which will be reduced if he completes a drink-driving rehabilitation course.

He was also ordered to pay £309 in costs and a surcharge.