LEICESTER A squire who tried to save his family’s reputation by giving police the name of a dead friend after he was caught drink-driving has been jailed for six months for perverting the course of justice.

Richard Coape-Arnold, 61, from Hinckley, Leicestershire, appeared before magistrates under the false name. Minutes after he was fined £125 and banned from driving for 20 months, he was seen driving by the prosecutor in the case and photographed by a local paper.

Leicester Crown Court was told how the “sozzled, silly old man” was caught drink-driving in April. He

told police that he was Michael Bradley and was charged under that name. Graham Buchanan, for Coape-Arnold, said: “He was trying to protect the family name from being dragged through the gutter.”

Judge Ian Collis told him: “It was only when you were seen driving after conviction and your photograph was in the newspaper that it turned out you were not the person named.”

He banned Coape-Arnold from driving for an additional 20 months.

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