A DRIVER was more than four times over the drink drive limit when he bumped into the back of a car on the A66 near Darlington, a court heard.

Richard Causer, 36, damaged a total of four cars when he shunted the car in front of him which then had a domino effect on the next three vehicles in the line of traffic.

It happened at 3pm on October 22 and Causer, of Killinghall Row, Middleton St George, pleaded guilty to drink driving and to driving without insurance when he appeared at Darlington Magistrates’ Court today (November 1).

Mitigating, Stephen Andrews said that Causer had been drinking the night before and had left his car at the pub.

When he picked it up the following day he had a couple of pints with a meal and did not realise that he was over the limit.

“He assures me and he assures you that if he had felt that he wasn’t ok to drive, there is no way that he would have got behind the wheel,” said Mr Andrews.

“This is a lesson to us all about how long alcohol stays in your system if you have been drinking heavily the night before.”

Mr Andrews said that nobody was injured in the incident and that Causer was not speeding but had momentarily taken his eye off the road when the cars in front of him stopped in a queue.

He added that not having insurance was an oversight on Causer’s part because he was going through a difficult time having recently split from his long term partner who moved out of the family home with their daughter.

After requesting a probation report, presiding magistrate John Robinson banned Causer from driving for 30-months, with the option to complete a course to reduce the ban by seven months.

He also imposed a community order with 150 hours unpaid work and ordered Causer to pay £85 costs and a 60 victim surcharge.