SERIAL drink-driver John Sharp, guilty of what a court called a deplorable level of reckless behaviour, escaped a jail sentence yesterday that would have devastated his health and that of his wife.

Sharp, 48, of Crawford Close, Tockwith, near York, who admitted two offences of drink-driving when he appeared before Harrogate magistrates, had been convicted of a similar offence in 2000 and one of being in charge of a car when unfit through drink in 1999.

He also pleaded guilty to having neither insurance nor a licence when police arrested him in November last year or in March when he greeted officers on his doorstep with a glass of whisky in his hand.

Prosecutor Simon Ostler said in November Sharp's Volvo hit a car being driven through Tockwith by off-duty police officer Richard Hall. Sharp had driven off before police arrived, but had been arrested at home later when tests showed an alcohol level of nearly three times the legal limit.

Mr Ostler said that while on bail, Sharp had driven to a local shop, returning to find himself locked out of his home by his schoolteacher wife who then called the police. This time his alcohol level was more than three times the limit.

In mitigation, Geoffrey Boothby said Sharp accepted he had a drink problem brought on by his poor health worries because his computer business had gone bust, financial troubles and his son's behavioural problems. He had now been told by a hospital consultant that if he did not stop drinking, he could suffer liver failure within six months.

Presiding magistrate David Davies, who told Sharp he had shown a deplorable level of reckless behaviour, banned him from driving for four years and ordered him to do 100 hours unpaid community work. Sharp was also put on probation for two years and told to pay £138 costs.

Updated: 10:30 Wednesday, June 04, 2003