May 31, 2010: British priest Fr Bede Rowe failed to show up for Mass Sunday when police arrested him on a drink-driving charge after he smashed his car into a railing.

Fr Rowe, who was nearly three times the limit, later wrote a letter of apology to parishioners, The Mirror reports.

“As you may know, Masses were not said this morning,” he wrote.

“I was not around because I spent the night in police cells.

“Last night I went out for dinner and drank too much. I had an accident coming back. The police came, breathalysed me and I was well over the legal limit.

“I cannot begin to say how sorry and ashamed I am. I have let you, my parishioners, down. I want to say sorry to you all.”

He is due to face magistrates next Thursday.