A PENSIONER crashed his car while on his way to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting after drinking the night before.
Kenneth Hugh David Adams admitted drink-driving when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.
Police were called to reports of a crash involving a Toyota Rav-4 at the B4203 junction with Burying Lane near Bromyard at 9.10pm on November 24, prosecutor Eleanor Peart said.
Driver Adams, who had crashed into a hedge, was arrested after failing a roadside breath test and taken to hospital, where a blood sample revealed he had 117 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80.
In interview, Adams told police he had been going to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that evening and had drunk "quite a bit" the night before.
He had alcohol in the car, Miss Peart said, which he told officers he was taking to dispose of at the meeting.
George Cousins, for Adams, said the 76-year-old had entered a guilty plea and fully cooperated with the police.
"There was a defect with his car, which probably accounts for the crash," Mr Cousins said.
"It is his first time before the court and it is a sobering experience. He has mobility issues and his wife has health issues, and he uses his car to take her shopping and to the doctor. Clearly that will have to stop for a while."
Adams, who is of Saltmarshe Castle Park, Bromyard, was disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined £196. He must also pay costs of £135 and a £34 victim surcharge.
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