A drink-driver who was nearly three-and-a-half times the legal alcohol limit crashed into a wall at an Ipswich hotel as he arrived to pick up his girlfriend, a court heard.

Mihali Plamadeala, of Norwich Road, Ipswich, pleaded guilty at South East Suffolk Magistrates’ Court to driving with excess alcohol.

The Moldovan-national committed the offence on September 10 at Compair Crescent.

Prosecutor Wayne Ablett said police were called to the Penta Hotel at 11.43pm.

Plamadeala had been driving a Renault Scenic which had collided with a wall outside the hotel.

When officers arrived the 30-year-old was still in the vehicle.

A subsequent breath test showed he had 119 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mcgs.

Plamadeala told police he had been drinking after work and was going to pick his girlfriend up as she worked at the hotel.

He described the turning into the hotel as very narrow and struck the wall.

David Stewart, representing Plamadeala, said his client – who listened to proceedings through a Russian interpreter – had been in the UK since January.

The father-of-one works full-time for a building company and travels throughout East Anglia.

Magistrates disqualified Plamadeala from driving for two years.

He was also sentenced to a three-month curfew as part of a community order. He will be electronically tagged and must remain at his home for seven days a week between 8pm and 5am.

Plamadeala was also ordered to pay £85 costs and £85 to the victims’ fund.

In a separate hearing 67-year-old Brendan Lambe, of Rosebery Road, Felixstowe, was banned from driving for 12 months after admitting drink-driving.

Lambe’s Skoda Fabia was stopped in Thornley Road, Felixstowe, on September 11 at 5.30pm. He had 40mcgs of alcohol in 100mls of breath.

Lambe was also fined £400 and ordered to pay costs of £85 as well as £40 to the victims’ fund.