Shrewsbury man twice the drink limit banned after crash
A man who crashed his car while twice the legal drink-drive limit has been banned from driving for 20 months.
Andrew Downward admitted drinking at a pub after work and then losing control of his Peugeot 207, hitting a kerb and hedgerow on the A458 near Rowton.
Downward, 20 and of The Leasowes, Ford, Shrewsbury, pleaded guilty to one count of driving over the alcohol limit on March 21 this year.
At Telford Magistrates Court on Wednesday, prosecutor Sara Beddow said police were called to the scene of the crash in the early hours.
They found "extensive damage" to a hedgerow and to the car, and spoke to Downward who admitted he was the driver.
Asleep
He said he had drunk one pint and thought he had fallen asleep at the wheel.
In breath tests Downward blew 77 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg per 100 ml.
Representing Downward, Clare Stephens said that he works as a sales advisor for a tractor company and if banned he would be "heavily reliant on friends and family" to get to and from work.
Magistrates handed him a 20-month ban with the opportunity to reduce it by 20 weeks if he undergoes a drink-drive rehabilitation course before May 22 next year.
He was also ordered to pay £135 in costs and a fine of £300, and told if not for his early guilty plea it would have been £400.
Chair of the bench Steven O'Hara said: "77 milligrams per 100 millilitres is a high reading, far higher than you would expect to see from one pint of alcohol."
