A train driver who was caught over the alcohol limit when he went through a red signal at one of Britain's busiest railway stations has been spared jail. Ian Pickering, 56, endangered the lives of passengers by going through a red light at Birmingham New Street following a boozy night out on December 30 last year.
He was later sacked by Arriva UK after providing a reading to police of 54 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes. Pickering, of Earl Shilton, Leics., previously admitted endangering the safety of persons conveyed on the railway and being a transport worker whose alcohol limit was over the limit.
But he avoided being jailed after being sentenced to an 18 month community order and ordered to pay £425 costs at Birmingham Crown Court. Sentencing, Judge Simon Drew KC said "As a train driver of 30 years experience you know the enormous level of trust that is placed in you as a train driver by members of the public.
