A DRINK-driver who took to the road while more than four times the limit in a car missing a wheel has been spared jail after telling magistrates he has kicked his booze habit.

By JOSH WARWICK

josh.warwick@eveningstar.co.uk>

A DRINK-driver who took to the road while more than four times the limit in a car missing a wheel has been spared jail after telling magistrates he has kicked his booze habit.

Wayne Nunn was stopped after officers noticed that the front left wheel of his Ford Ka was completely missing as he drove near the police station in Ipswich's Civic Drive, at around 11.50pm on July 16.

When Nunn, of Handford Road, Ipswich, was breathalysed, he was found to have 149 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

But despite the reading, justices at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court opted to punish the 44-year-old with a six-month suspended custodial sentence, a 24-month supervision order and 200 hours of unpaid work in the community.

He was also banned from the road for three years.

As well as pleading guilty to drink-driving, Nunn also admitted a charge of driving a vehicle dangerously in relation to the missing wheel.

Neil Saunders, mitigating, told the court his client's arrest had prompted a dramatic turnaround in his fortunes.

He said: “He was in crisis, as was his family. But the defendant has not had a drink since the incident which takes a lot of courage, and his brother has offered him employment in a well established company.

“He is with Norcas (the East Anglian drug and alcohol counselling charity) and so is his wife, because they both have a drink problem - he has the problem and she has to cope with it.

“That night could have been the worst of his life but in view of what's happened and the change that has occurred, it's probably one of the best.

“It's saved his marriage and it's maybe saved his life. He is not a hopeless alcoholic. He is drink free and you are looking at a new Mr Nunn.”

Magistrates warned Nunn his reading had been one of the highest they had come across and said this combined with a faulty vehicle could have resulted in a serious accident.

Nunn was ordered to pay £43 towards court costs.

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