A grieving father drove drunk on the anniversary of his son’s death, a court heard.
Francis Firth, of Huddersfield Road in Mirfield, pleaded guilty to driving whilst over the prescribed limit.
The offence occurred while the 60-year-old was already on bail after admitting to being drunk in charge of a vehicle.
Kirklees magistrates sentenced him to six weeks in custody, but suspended the term of imprisonment after hearing that there had been exceptional circumstances in his case.
The first offence happened on July 16 when Firth was found drunk in his vehicle on his driveway.
Breath tests revealed that he had 145 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath - more than four times the legal limit of 35 microgrammes.
While on police bail for this on October 14 he drove his Hyundai on Thistle Way in Leeds after drinking.
This time he was just over three times over the drink-drive limit with 107 microgrammes in breath.
Magistrates were told that he had alcohol difficulties and it was the anniversary of the death of his mother and son.
The teenager died aged 16 in 2006 after losing a four-year battle with cancer.
Zahid Majeed, mitigating, said that his client had worked in the social care sector with vulnerable people.
He told magistrates: “He’s ended up being a vulnerable person himself and accepts he has a problem with alcohol.
“He is dealing with a loss and with the stress and anxiety it’s come to a head and he cannot cope anymore.
“Now he needs to concentrate on the family he has.”
Mr Majeed added that Firth has since sold his vehicle and significantly reduced his alcohol intake.
As well as handing him the suspended sentence, magistrates sentenced him to a community order with six months of alcohol treatment and 15 days of rehabilitative activities.
Firth was banned from driving for two years and has to pay £85 costs and £115 victim surcharge.
