Driver caught four times over the limit
ESTRANGED HUSBAND FACED JAIL WARNING FROM COURT
AN estranged husband who blew more than FOUR times the drinkdrive limit has been warned he could face a spell behind bars.
Dad Glen Stewart was pulled over by a police officer on Astley Road, Seaton Delaval, at 11.30am on November 11.
The Skoda Octavia driver was judged to have “glazed” eyes, “slurred” speech and the stench of alcohol on his breath.
The 50-year-old failed a roadside test and was immediately arrested.
Stewart was found to have 143 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal drink-drive limit is 35 micrograms.
Now, Stewart has been warned he could be imprisoned after pleading guilty to drink-driving at Bedlington Magistrates’ Court on December 6.
James Long, prosecuting, described the condition the officer found Stewart in behind the wheel.
He said: “He could immediately smell alcohol on his breath, his speech was slurred and eyes were glazed.”
The prosecutor also told the court of Stewart’s previous conviction for being drunk in charge of a vehicle on December 14 last year.
John Kirkham, mitigating, explained his client had been parked at a caravan park and was arrested after “drinking himself into oblivion”.
The court heard Stewart’s dependence on alcohol stemmed from the breakdown of his relationship with his wife.
Mr Kirkham said: “There are some individuals you see in this court on a weekly or monthly basis who seem they will never give up their offending. Mr Stewart is not the usual type of individual.
“This is a gentleman who managed to get through his first 49 years never troubling the law or police. He is a hard-working family man who is in employment.
“The obvious thing that appears to have gone wrong is his relationship has run into difficulty. “
The court was also told Stewart had breached a restraining order against his wife in October this year, while a head injury sustained in a fall last year was also cited as a factor in his increased alcohol consumption. Mr Kirkham, who presented a case for a suspended sentence, added: “His drinking appears to have become out of control. H e does not want to be alcohol dependent.
“This is a new development and at the moment he is spiralling out of control.
“His son has made the point it’s almost like he has lost his dad.”
Stewart, of Kearsley Close, Seaton Delaval, was granted unconditional bail to allow a pre-sentence report to be prepared ahead of his sentencing at the same court on December 21.
Chair of the bench Joyce Wotherspoon said: “This offence is so serious it clearly passes the custody threshold.
“The report will be brought to us, and your sentencing bench will decide what the actual sentence will be.
“Until that date and time, you are disqualified from driving on any public or private land.”