Hebburn motorist drank eight pints before crashing into the back of another car
A motoring South Tyneside dad who hit a car while driving after drinking eight pints has been banned from the roads for 28 months.
Christopher Ord, 43, struck the rear of a vehicle at traffic lights at the junction of Park Road and the A185 Victoria Road East at Jarrow on Saturday, October 25.
Ord, of Coppergate Court, Hebburn, swapped insurance details, then drove off to have another pint with friends in a second pub, a court was told.
Police later caught up with Ord, a caretaker at a South Shields leisure centre, and a breath test showed he was over three times the booze limit.
Borough magistrates heard he finds it hard to curb his drinking once he starts and could not explain why he had driven when his pals had taken a taxi to the second boozer.
Prosecutor Emily Sanderson said: “The witness says he was driving his VW Polo and came to a stop at lights at a junction.
“A Toyota Yaris attempted to drive on his left, despite limited room. It collided with the rear of his vehicle.
“The male driver appeared intoxicated, and he was unsteady on his feet. He showed his insurance details. The police were contacted.
“The defendant initially drove off but stopped further down the road. He confirmed to police that he had been in a road traffic collision.”
Ord, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to a charge of drink driving.
His roadside reading for alcohol was 102mcg in breath but this had jumped to 118mcg by the time of an evidential test after his arrest. The legal limit is 35mcg.
The Probation Service told the hearing former offshore worker Ord, a father-of-three, was seeking professional help to curb his drinking.
In a report, it said he had dropped one of his children at the beach with his grandparents and had then driven to Jarrow and downed eight pints.
While his friends took a taxi to another boozer, Ord had made the “impulse decision” to drive instead.
It said after swapping his insurance details, he had gone to the second pub and had another pint.
The report also stated Ord was engaging with professional support around his alcohol intake.
It revealed on occasions he downs more than 12 pints during a session.
Alastair Naismith, defending, said: “It’s a guilty plea at the first opportunity. There are no previous convictions.
“Images of the collision show a scratch to the front of his car and a slight dent to the bumper of the other car.
“It was not a high speed collision, but it is definitely an aggravating factor.”
Alongside Ord’s driving ban, magistrates ordered him to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and pay a £114 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.
John Lee, chair of the bench, told him: “You made a catastrophic error of judgement that night.”
Magistrates offered Ord a place on a ban-reducing drink driver rehabilitation programme.