South Tyneside pensioner sold his car a day before appearing in court to admit to drink driving

David Hamill, 68, told borough magistrates he had sold his car the previous day – and was now happy to travel by bus.

To back up his pledge, Hamill, of South Eldon Street, Tyne Dock, rejected their offer to sit a ban-reducing rehabilitation course.

It would have shaved around 16 weeks off the 18-month roads’ ban they handed him after he pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol.

He told them: “I don’t want to drive anymore. I sold my car yesterday. I’ve got a free bus pass.”

Prosecutor Niamh Reading said Hamill drove after an incident in Marshall Wallis Road, Chichester, South Shields, on Saturday, April 15.

Ms Reading added: “Officers were asked to attend at around 4.25am. A neighbour said a male had kicked the door of a property and driven off.

“Officers discovered the defendant’s address was a short distance away and they attended the address.

“They found his car in the car park and noticed that the bonnet was warm, indicating it had recently been driven.

“He was asked if he had driven but he said, ‘No, I walked’. He admitted he was the only one who had access to the vehicle.

“The keys were in his room and the police believed he was intoxicated. He gave a positive breath sample.

“On the way into custody he was asked who had been driving. He said, ‘Me’.”

Hamill, who the court heard had a previously unblemished driving record, gave a reading of 68mcg of alcohol in breath. The legal limit is 35mcg.

Ritchie Rodger, defending, said: “The defendant has had a driving licence since 1975. This is his first driving offence.

“He had been to his stepdaughter’s birthday party with his partner and planned to stay overnight.

“Unfortunately, his partner got into an altercation with someone else and he decided to drive back to her house and drop her off.

“He had property inside that was his which he wanted back, and he kicked the door a couple of times, and a neighbour called the police.

“He’s someone who did a good turn to diffuse a situation, but he’s convicted of drink driving.”

Magistrates also fined state pensioner Hamill £120, with £85 court costs and a £48 victim surcharge.

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