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| Court Date: Mills |
The 25 year-old banking heir was stopped in his black two-litre Range Rover near the posh private Hurlingham Club, in Fulham, west London at 1.30am.
He joined the reality tv show for Season 14 in 2017, describing himself as a former model, playboy, and socialite.
Mills, dressed in a light grey double-breasted suit with white shirt and blue tie gave his address to Westminster Magistrates Court as Lound Hall, Bothamsall, Retford, Nottinghamshire.
It is a £4m 70-room country house, built in the Georgian style in the 1930’s for mining heir Sir Harald Peake.
Mills pleaded guilty to driving in Hurlingham Road on March 13 with 78 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.
The legal limit is 35.
He was fined £1100, with £85 costs, ordered to pay a £110 victim surcharge and disqualified for 18 months.
District Judge Michael Snow had encouraged Mills to reconsider fighting the case, even ordering the police bodywork camera footage to be played in court.
During footage of Mills’s arrest
he can be heard explaining: “I fell out of the car with my phone and I really f***ing hurt my head there.
“I called your 101 people.”
He can also be heard claiming he was looking for a friend’s home in the area and was prepared to leave the vehicle where it was and accept a parking ticket in the morning.
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| Licence Up In Smoke: Mills |
He had driven to London to party with “nine to ten friends” at Bluebird Chelsea restaurant on the King’s Road then had more drinks at the Ritz afterwards.
He tried to avoid the automatic drink-drive ban by claiming special reasons, namely travelling a short distance on an empty road to find a safe parking space, but this was rejected by the judge.
“I wasn’t planning on drinking, so I was going to drive back so when I did have a drink I was going to a friend’s house in Fulham,” he told the court.
Mills claimed teetotal pal Alexander Nall-Cain drove to the Ritz and then to Fulham, where he intended staying the night at the home of Ella Flashman in Althea Street.
“I was waiting in the car, I don’t remember how long. I was waiting to move the car, to sober up a little bit.
“I had fallen out of the car, the passenger side and tripped and hit my head. I think I tripped on something that was underneath the car.
“I was not in the right state of mind.
“I moved the car from where it was parked to the parking space. My handle was in ‘park’ and that’s when I saw the blue lights.
“I had driven it two hundred yards. The roads were completely deserted.”
Prosecutor Mr. Matt Barrowcliffe said police spotted three mopeds passing at that time and told Mills: “The reason you didn’t see those mopeds was because you were so intoxicated.”
However, Judge Snow said: “Mr. Mills is not driving in a quiet country lane in rural Leicestershire, but in the middle of London and in the middle of the night they have road users and pedestrians on them.
“Even on his account I don’t find special reasons exist. Two hundred yards is not a very short distance.
“There was the clear possibility of danger of coming into contact with other road users.
“There is no evidence from Mr. Nall-Cain of Ms Flashman. All of this depends on his recollection and his recollection is not a strong one.
“He doesn’t know how long he was sitting in the car or what he tripped up on when he fell out of the car.
“People do stupid things when they are drinking and memories tend to be unreliable.”
Mills claims it was unfair for police to sit and wait for him to drive off when they responded to his 101 call, and the judge said: “They watched him drive away and that may be regarded as a dirty trick or not.”
Mr. Barrowcliffe told the court police responded to a report of a man who was drunk and considering driving opposite a school in Broomhouse Lane.
“The officer made their way to the area and saw a vehicle parked with it’s lights on. The officer waited to see if anyone returned to the vehicle.
“The officer decided to drive past and as the officer moved off the Range Rover also drove off so he moved in behind and activated the lights and the vehicle stopped.
“This defendant exited with his hands in the air and admitted he, himself called the police, but he could not remember what he said.
“He failed the roadside breath test and was taken into custody.”
On the footage Mills can be heard saying: “Yeah, that’s way over. I’m going inside,” as he gave the roadside breath-test.
Earlier the judge announced: “He needs to understand the consequences of his actions today. I’m not prepared to accept his not guilty plea today,” when Mills initially decided to fight the charge.
Mary Johnson, defending, told the court: “There are two issues, but without seeing further evidence it is difficult to advise.
“The issue is the procedure in this matter, at the roadside and at the custody suite and there are other arguments in relation to special reasons.
“There are discrepancies in the police officer’s timings, phone calls, they don’t match out timings. There are other factual matters.”
After Mills decided to plead guilty she said: “There was no intention to take the vehicle beyond that point. There is no complaint from the police about the way it was driven.
“It was not driven in a reckless manner that can be criticised. The reason it was being driven was to park it.
“He lives in a rural part of the country where there’s almost no public transport. The nearest is a bus stop one and a half miles away.
“He has taken on a new job in the east Midlands with an investment and property company that requires driving.
“He does a lot of charity work, is involved with the Diana Award, the Mental Health Foundation and with anti-bullying.”
Privately-educated Mills was introduced to the show by old pal Julius Cowdrey.
The country home is owned by his step-father Robert Everist, a child care centre and manufacturing and property entrepreneur who married Charlie’s mother Susan Mills.
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