A MOTORIST caught driving while almost four times the legal drink-drive limit has been spared a prison sentence by Selby magistrates.

Christopher John Howe, of Meadow View, Sherburn-in-Elmet, was followed in his Ford Mondeo by a police officer on a motorbike on the B1222 near his home at about 5.20pm on May 8.

The court heard Howe’s car was seen to cross the white lines on the road and mounted the verge on several occasions.

The officer pulled him over and performed a roadside breath test which registered 121 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – almost four times the legal limit of 35mg in 100ml.

Lee-Anne Robins-Hicks, for Howe, told the court he had received a phone call from an old friend in Canada who had recently learned he was suffering from an aggressive form of cancer.

Mrs Robins-Hicks told the court this had upset Howe, who had “used alcohol as a crutch”, before deciding to drive a mile-and-a-half to some woods to go for a long walk and clear his head.

That was when he was spotted by police. A probation report into the 57-year-old father of three said there was nothing to suggest alcohol was a problem, and he had been “acting on emotions at the time”.

Magistrate Ron Humphreys told Howe: “We are very disappointed that you find yourself in this position. A man of previous good character without a criminal record, you will leave here with one.”

Mr Humphreys told Howe the high reading was past the custodial threshold, and sentenced him to a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for one year, 150 hours of unpaid work and prosecution costs of £85. He was also banned from driving for three years.