A former Tory speechwriter was caught drunk at the wheel three times in just ONE MONTH, a panel heard.
Aidan Loy, an aide to ex-PM Michael Howard, was spared jail despite racking up five convictions for drink-driving, a misconduct hearing was told.
Solicitor Loy, who worked at the heart of government, kept his legal job after a panel chose not to ban him from the profession.
The 57-year-old, from Cockermouth, Cumbria, was fined £2,000 by watchdog, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
The panel was told that Loy was given a 20-month suspended sentence by the courts after being caught three times between November and December 2013.
One one occasion, he was discovered to be more than three times over the legal limit, a report said.
Loy, who also worked for then employment secretary Norman Fowler and also for ex-transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin, had also been pulled over in 1998 and 2003, the SDT revealed.
The judgment stated: “As an experienced solicitor, he should have been aware of the potential for harm to the reputation of the profession to result from such actions.”
Loy said he said suffered ill-health at the time of his convictions and had taken steps to address his behaviour.
He was ordered to pay SDT costs of £750.