A DRINK-driver changed his plea to guilty so that he could get his sentencing out of the way, and ‘carry on with his life’.

Kean Oneill had the change of heart after finding out he was going to be a dad.

The 22-year-old, of Danes Road in Bicester, was dressed in a black shirt, coat and jeans as he stood in the dock of Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Monday morning to represent himself.

At around 9.30pm on September 26 ONeill was caught on Queens Road in Bicester driving his white Ford transit van over the legal limit.

Dana Patel, the CPS prosecutor, said that police officers in the area had heard his wheels screeching down the road and had decided to follow him.

When they caught up with him, she said they could 'smell' the alcohol on his breath.

He was given a roadside breath test, and scored 54mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

The legal limit is 35mcg.

Because ONeill was representing himself, the magistrates' prompted him to give his own mitigating circumstances - reasons beyond the defendants control that could help lesser the sentence.

Also at Magistrates' Court on Monday:

He stood up and said: "At the time I was going through some quite....I suffer from depression.

"It's not an excuse, but I have got myself a new job, I've got a child on the way and I have got to pay the bills...that's why I've decided to change my plea to guilty – to get it done and to carry on with my life really."

The magistrate' told him: "I have very little tolerance of this."

Before letting him off with a driving ban and a fine.

He said: "You will be banned from driving for 15 months, this will be reduced if you are willing to do a drink driving course.

"If you do that course, it will be reduced by 15 weeks.

"You will be banned until April 1, 2021 – but if you complete the course the ban will be reduced until December 20 this year.

"You will also be fined £276 and court costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £32. A total of £393."

Oneill is already paying a fine for previous conviction and at the time of this offence had handed over his licence to police officers.

The magistrates warned him that he must wait for his driving licence to be in his hand before being tempted to get behind the wheel at Christmas.

They said the licence itself might get stuck in the Christmas post backlog.

He said: "Just to remind you, you cannot drive again until you have your licence back in your hand."