Fakenham drink-driver 'overwhelmed with guilt' for Covid deaths in care home, court told

A drink-driving care worker had been “overwhelmed with guilt” about four deaths at his workplace after catching Covid-19 himself.

Matthew Meierhofer blamed himself for unwittingly passing it on to residents of the care home, a court was told.

The 36-year-old, of Wensum Way, Fakenham, had been out for a drink with a friend to console himself over the issue and a personal matter after arguing with his partner.

Magistrates in Lynn were told on Thursday that he was pulled over by police while driving a Renault Clio in Holt Road, Fakenham, just before 1am on February 27, 2021.

He failed a roadside breath test and admitted to officers that he only held a provisional licence.

In custody Meierhofer blew 86 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

He pleaded guilty to drink-driving and driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence.

Rob Pollington, mitigating, said it was an “unfortunate situation” and the result of the combination of a number of things going on in the defendant’s life at the time.

“He works in a care home helping the elderly.

“He had suffered from Covid and then gone back to work, along with a second member of staff. Thereafter it had spread.

“He had an overwhelming sense of guilt that he had passed it on before he was the subject of a diagnosis and was responsible for the deaths of residents. There were four in the week he went back.”

The drink Meierhofer had shared with a friend was “not the most sensible under the circumstances”, Mr Pollington conceded.

The defendant had been driving them back when he was stopped.

Meierhofer was fined £200 and disqualified from driving for 20 months, which can be cut with completion of a drink-drive rehabilitation course.

For the licence offence he was fined £50 and he was ordered to pay £105 costs and £34 victim surcharge.