Essex Chronicle reporter Ivan Sage took a novel approach to deter people from drink driving – he got himself ‘arrested’.

With the help of the Essex police, Ivan found out what it is like to be on the wrong side of the law when he took part in a reconstruction of a drink driving arrest for a feature which appeared in the Chronicle.

“The Government’s publicity focuses on the deaths that drink driving can cause but I wanted to look at it another way,” said Ivan.

During the exercise, he was stopped by the police, who asked Ivan to take a breathalyser test, before being told by Pc John Clements: “I regret to tell you sir, you have failed the test. I’m therefore arresting you for providing a positive breath test.”

After arriving at the police station, he was seen by the custody sergeant and read his rights before being searched.

Next he had to take two more breathalyser tests on an intoximeter, of which the lowest reading is used in evidence. With a ‘reading’ of 100 microgrammes, Ivan was ‘charged’ and given bail before having his fingerprints and photograph taken.

Living the fictional part, he told readers: “I’m now the not so proud owner of a criminal record which will stay with me for the next 25 years – and I still have to face my family and friends.

“I must now live with all the stigma that goes with my crime and I dread seeing my name and my offence being reported in the press. For the next year I am banned from driving and I could lose my job. When, eventually, I do get back behind the wheel, my insurance will be astronomical,” said Ivan.

At the end of the exercise Ivan was thankful that the experience was not for real.

“It was horrible, I wouldn’t want to repeat it in other circumstances,” he said.

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