South Shields charity champion Tony Carlisle admits drink-driving charge
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Award-winning Tony Carlisle, who has helped raise more than £8m over three decades as the founder of South Shields’s Great North Dog Walk, apologised “unreservedly” to magistrates when he pleaded guilty to the offence in court at the first opportunity.
Carlisle, 63, of Cauldwell Villas, South Shields, admitted drink driving in a white BMW in the town’s King George Road on Sunday, October 11.
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Hide AdSouth Tyneside Magistrates’ Court was told on Wednesday, November 11, that the proportion of alcohol in his breath after the offence was 130 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.
The legal limit is 35 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.
Carlisle, who appeared at the South Shields court on crutches, confirmed his name, date of birth, address and guilty plea during the short hearing.
After the chair of the magistrates’ bench, Angela Thompson, told him that she would be adjourning the case for the compilation of a pre-sentence report, Carlisle told the court: “I unreservedly apologise for my actions.”
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Hide AdFurther details about the circumstances surrounding the case are expected to be outlined when he returns to the same court in December to be sentenced.
Carlisle, who was granted unconditional bail, declined to comment to the Gazette when he left the building after the hearing.
The former teacher has turned the Great North Dog Walk into one of the North-East's leading charity events, setting and breaking records for participation numbers down the years.
His first walk in 1990 attracted just 13 dogs and their owners before the event rapidly grew in popularity and became internationally recognised.
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Hide AdAnd by the time it was last held two years ago at The Leas, an estimated 35,000 dogs of 185 different breeds took part.
Carlisle’s efforts saw him last year crowned Fundraiser of the Year at the seventh annual Animal Heroes Awards at a star-studded ceremony.
Unfortunately, this year’s planned walk – which would have marked the 30th anniversary of the event – had to be cancelled following the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.