Driver 4 times the limit is spared jail
AN ‘ off the scale’ drink driver caught more than four times the legal limit has avoided jail.
Troubled grandad Paul Gillan, 46, crashed his car into a ditch while trying to do a three-point turn.
He was breathalysed and blew 159mg, a level magistrates described as ‘off the scale’.
Gillan, of Shaw Street, Macclesfield, admitted drink driving at Stockport magistrates’ court.
He was sentenced to four months in prison suspended for 12 months.
Eileen Rogers, prosecuting, said Gillan was found in his Mitsubishi ASX on Mudhurst Lane, Disley, on November 19.
She said: “Witness Nicholas James was travelling on Mudhurst Lane towards Macclesfield in his work’s van when he came across a vehicle that had driven into a ditch.
“The headlights were pointed towards the sky and the wheels were moving.
“The driver, Gillan, was behind the wheel and asked for help.
“Mr James could smell alcohol. He didn’t have a tow rope so decided to call the police.
“Officers arrived and Gillan was breathalysed, recording 159mg. The legal limit is 35mg.”
The court heard Gillan had a drink drive conviction from 2008 and was punished with unpaid work and a 32-month ban.
Tim Vickers, defending, said Gillan was an alcoholic who had ‘hit rock bottom’.
He said: “He had been staying in a Travel Lodge after moving out of the family home because his family couldn’t cope with his alcoholism.
“He found the situation incredibly depressing and went drinking at 11am in Macclesfield. He then decided to drive to get help from a friend in Disley.
“He was trying to perform a three-point turn and got stuck.
“As a result of the incident he lost his job as a senior sales manager. He can’t get any lower than this. It is rock bottom. But there is hope for the future if he can stop drinking and get help.”
Gillan was also sentenced to 250 hours unpaid work and an alcohol treatment course. He was banned from driving for five years.
Sentencing, Ian McNeil, chair of the magistrates, said: “I don’t think in my 30 years as a magistrate I have seen a reading so high. It’s off the scale.
“I hope you reflect on the consequences of what could have happened. The mind boggles. We have given serious consideration to sending you to prison.”