A motorist who drove home from a party while so drunk he failed to notice his WHEEL was missing has narrowly avoided a jail sentence.
Partly-deaf Andrew Mackay, 29, drove for four miles through the centre of Bristol in a hail of sparks after leaving a New Year’s Eve party.
When police finally pulled him over he was unaware he had lost a tyre and worn the bare wheel down to a tiny stump, Bristol Crown Court heard.
A roadside breath test revealed he was three times the legal limit of 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath.
Unemployed Mackay pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol and dangerous driving and was given a 10 month suspended prison sentence and a three-year driving ban.
Recorder Mr Michael Norman also ordered him to do 150 hours unpaid work and obey a six week curfew.
He said: ”You had a gross amount of alcohol, you weren’t able to exercise self control and then you were seen four miles before you were stopped.
”The comic aspect of driving a car with three wheels is well outweighed by the dangerous aspect of you doing so in a state of inebriation.”
The incident happened in the early hours of New Year’s Day this year as Mackay drove home to Bitton, near Bristol, in his red Skoda Octavia.
Stunned police watched in amazement as he drove past them with a trail of sparks emerging from the front driver’s side.
They pulled him over in Coronation Road in central Bristol after following the vehicle for four miles, the court heard.
Neil Treharne, prosecuting, said: ”He was seen in Coronation Road, Bedminster, and the car had three wheels. It should have had four.”
Jane Chamberlain, mitigating, said her client fully accepted how irresponsible he had been and was shameful and apologetic.
She said he had sold the car and had no more interest in driving.
