A BLIND motorist who completed a dangerous 150-mile drive to Cumbria at night while over the drink drive limit has escaped an immediate jail term.
Magistrates suspended a 36-week sentence after the defence lawyer for 50-year-old Anthony Hall told a court that he committed the offence after suffering a breakdown.
He had felt desperate to "escape."
At an earlier court hearing in Carlisle, a prosecutor said it was “miraculous” nobody was injured during the defendant’s night-time journey from Huddersfield to Carlisle.
This ended when police spotted Hall’s car drifting between lanes of the motorway. The defendant admitted drink driving, dangerous driving, driving while uninsured and without a licence, and taking the car without the owner’s consent.
Kirklees Magistrates heard that Hall was spotted by the police at 1.45am on June 29 as he drove northwards near Junction 44 of the M6, more than two hours into his illegal journey.
Hall told the police officers he stayed on the road "by following lorry taillights." The defendant explained that before his journey he and wife had been drinking wine.
A man of previous good character, Hall, of Lees Close, Huddersfield, is registered blind and does not have a driving licence because of his medical condition. The defendant must also pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge.
After the defendant’s partner’s Vauxhall Meriva had gone missing, police were asked to keep a lookout for the car.
They spotted it more than two hours after Hall had set off. When police stopped the car in north Cumbria, the officers immediately smelled alcohol on his breath.
“The defendant also said he’d gone blind two years ago and was asked how he had managed to drive,” prosecutor Suresh Basra told the earlier court hearing.
“He said that by following HGV lights he managed to drive that distance. It’s miraculous no-one was injured.”
A breath specimen confirmed that Hall had 46mcgs of alcohol in every 100mls of breath. The legal limit for driving is 35mcgs. Hall had made a deliberate decision to ignore the rules of the road and risk danger to others road users, the prosecutor added.
Adele Graham, defending, said Hall had felt “trapped” in his own home. Magistrates suspended the 36-week jail term for 18 months.
The sentence includes rehabilitation activity days and a 90-day booze ban. Though he is not able to drive legally, magistrates formally imposed a 12-month ban.
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