A man who drove his wife’s mobility car while almost four-and-a-half times over the legal limit drank to cope with his anxiety, a court heard.
Police were called after the vehicle Devon Powell was driving was involved in an accident on Huddersfield ring road on February 6.
Officers attended the scene on Southgate at just after 7pm and the person in the other car said they believed that the 48-year-old had been drinking.
Kirklees magistrates were told that Powell failed a roadside breath test and was arrested.
Further police station tests showed that he had 155 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.
This was almost four-and-a-half times the legal limit of 35 microgrammes.
Powell, assisted in court via a sign language interpreter, pleaded guilty to driving while over the prescribed limit.
Zahid Majeed, mitigating, explained that his client’s own wife was severely disabled and he used her mobility car to run errands.
He suffers from tinnitus, which he likens to an aeroplane engine type noise, and this gives him anxiety.
The court heard that Powell, of Hall Cross Grove in Lowerhouses, drinks alcohol daily as a means of coping with that anxiety.
Mr Majeed added: “It’s a very high reading. However, he’s somebody who has personal mitigation in the form of others who rely on him.
“He’s had 22 years worth of driving with no problems with the law at all.
“This case is exceptional for the court to step back (from custody).”
Magistrates sentenced Powell to a community order as a direct alternative to custody.
He has to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and 10 days of rehabilitation activities.
Magistrates banned him from driving for three years and ordered him to pay £85 costs and £85 victim surcharge.
