Brendan Coyle handed driving ban after New Year’s Day arrest

Downton Abbey star Brendan Coyle has been banned from driving for 50 months.
The British actor, who portrays Mr. Bates on the period drama, was pulled over by police in Norfolk, England on 1 January (16) while behind the wheel of his BMW.
He was found to be almost three times over the legal alcohol limit, and he appeared in King’s Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (11Feb16) to answer the charge.
During the hearing, Coyle’s lawyer, Steven Dyble, revealed his client had been on his way home after returning from an alcohol rehabilitation treatment centre in Thailand at the time of his arrest.
The 52-year-old, prosecuted under his real name David Coyle, admitted his guilt and was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and handed the driving ban, according to local paper, the Eastern Daily Press.