A man who got behind the wheel when nearly four times the legal drink-drive limit hit a former school friend’s vehicle with his car.

Christopher Turner claimed that the 10 cans of cider he’d drunk the evening previously contributed to the high reading.

His solicitor said that the 36-year-old’s arthritis medication may have also slowed down the rate at which the alcohol left his system.

Vanessa Schofield, prosecuting, told Kirklees Magistrates Court that on the afternoon of September 1 Turner was leaving Tesco Express in Scissett.

As he pulled out of the car park his Peugeot 307 hit another vehicle, causing some minor damage to both cars.

The other driver was Simon England, who Turner knew from his schooldays.

Turner, of Wakefield Road in Clayton West, was initially unaware that he had caused damage to the vehicle but was stopped by Mr England further down the road.

Mr England called police as he feared that Turner had been drinking.

Ms Schofield said: “Officers attended. They could smell alcohol on Mr Turner and he was slurring his speech.

“He provided a positive roadside breath test and said: ‘I know I shouldn’t have been drinking, I’ve had far too much.”

At the police station Turner provided further samples of breath.

These revealed that he had 134 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

This was almost four times the legal drink-drive limit of 35 mgs.

Magistrates heard that Turner had no previous convictions and before the incident had an ‘impeccable’ driving record.

Michael Devlin, mitigating, said on the Saturday night before his client had drunk 10 cans of Strongbow at home.

The following afternoon he drove to a pub half-a-mile away from his address to watch the Liverpool v Man United, which kicked off at 1.30pm.

There Mr Devlin said he drank a couple of pints before taking a chance and making the short journey home.

He had stopped to get some cash at the supermarket before ‘grazing’ Mr England’s car bumper.

Mr Devlin said: “The reading is significant and Mr Turner is all too aware custody may be an option.

“He suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and takes medication and is particularly slow in eliminating alcohol from his system.

“At the police station it was being eliminated at half the rate of the average man which may be due to the medication he’s on.”

Turner’s case was adjourned so that a report could be prepared by the probation service. Magistrates indicated that he would face a high-level community order rather than custody.