Driver fled when stopped by police

A DRINK- driver panicked and ran from his car after being stopped by police, a court heard.

Luke Boothroyd was behind the wheel of his friend’s Renault Clio when police, who were looking for the vehicle, pulled him over on Thorncliffe Street in Lindley.

Upon seeing the officers the 25-year-old fled, but was arrested nearby with the car keys discovered close by on the ground, Kirklees Magistrates were told.

He was taken to Huddersfield police station where breath tests showed that he had 54 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

This was over the legal limit of 35 microgrammes.

Boothroyd pleaded guilty to driving while over the prescribed limit, using a vehicle otherwise than in accordance with a licence and driving without insurance.

Mike Sisson-Pell, mitigating, said: “His friend was very drunk and he didn’t want him to drive so it was arranged that he would drive the car, notwithstanding the fact that he had no insurance and had drunk some alcohol himself.

“He regrets doing it but it was the lesser of two evils.”

District Judge Michael Fanning banned Boothroyd, of Lidget Street in Lindley, from driving for 16 months.

He told him: “Drink-driving creates a real risk of harm to yourself and other road users and that’s why it cannot be tolerated.”

Judge Fanning also fined him £550.