Darren Day given five-year driving ban

Entertainer Darren Day was banned from the road for five years and fined £1,250 today for his second drink-driving offence in two years.

Day, 41, previously admitted getting behind the wheel while over the legal alcohol limit and failing to stop after an accident.

The stage and screen star, of Cudworth, South Yorkshire, was found to have 58 microgrammes of alcohol on his breath after the incident in Edinburgh's West End a week before Christmas last year. The legal limit is 35.

He was arrested in the early hours of December 18 while in the Scottish capital starring in the hit Queen musical We Will Rock You.

He had only recently returned to the road after being disqualified for 18 months for drink-driving in Cardiff in 2008.

Sentencing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court followed a short trial in which Day was further convicted of possessing an offensive weapon, a martial arts stick called a kubotan.

Day, sporting a goatee beard and beige suit for his court appearance, spoke of his relief after the matter was dealt with today.

He said outside court: "I'm very relieved it's over.

"I am deeply sorry and ashamed of what's happened, especially for my family.

"I'm just very keen to move on now with my career and my life and leave it behind me."