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Wayne Rooney’s younger brother has been banned from driving for two years after being convicted of drink driving.

Graham Rooney, 24 was found to have 128ųg of alcohol in 100ml of breath.  The limit is 35ųg which means he was more than three times the legal limit.

The Daily Mail reports that Mr Rooney has also been ordered to carry out 150 hours unpaid work and told to pay £650 costs.  The newspaper states in one paragraph that Mr Rooney received a two year suspended driving ban, which suggests that he was not disqualified unless he commits a further offence, however this cannot be correct.  If found guilty of driving with excess alcohol, the Magistrates have no choice other than to disqualify you from driving.  For a reading as high as Mr Rooney’s the Court should also be considering imposing a custodial sentence.  Instead they have chosen to impose a community order.

Mr Rooney appeared at Liverpool Magistrates Court on 17^th July 2012 having been arrested at his parents’ house in Liverpool in April.  There had been a party at the house and when the alcohol ran out there was a dispute over who should go to buy more.  Mr Rooney was arrested after officers spotted a black Audi A3 driving erratically into the grounds of the property.  Mr Rooney was seen stumbling into the house and his manner alarmed the officers.  The Court heard that he became ‘instantly aggressive’, threatening to sue the police for trespassing and have them arrested.

At a previous trial in June, Mr Rooney had claimed that he was not behind the wheel.  He appeared at Liverpool Magistrates Court wearing a Team GB grey and blue tracksuit top and dark grey combats.

District Judge Miriam Shelvey told Rooney “Anyone who drives with such a high level of alcohol is a danger to other people”.

The Magistrates Court Guidelines suggest that a custodial sentence should be considered when a breath reading is in excess of 120ųg, which Mr Rooney’s was, at 128ųg.  He was very lucky not to have been sent to prison.