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A drink driver who reversed into a garden wall while more than four times the limit has received a suspended sentence.
Police were contacted after midnight on 19 December to report a white van had reversed into a garden wall in The Brickhills in St Neots.
Officers arrived to find Christopher Ratcliffe, of Duck Lane, St Neots, slumped over the steering wheel of the van with empty bottles of alcohol in the front of the vehicle.
The 44-year-old told officers he was parked in a layby before providing a roadside breath test of 148 microgrammes, more than four times the legal limit of 35 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath.
He failed to provide an evidential sample in custody.
At Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday (21 January), Ratcliffe was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months after pleading guilty to failing to provide. He was also disqualified from driving for three years and must undergo a 12-month alcohol treatment plan.
PC Jordan Pike, who investigated, said: “Ratcliffe was extremely intoxicated to the point he didn’t realise he had crashed into a garden wall.
“Further police checks also revealed he had been charged with drink driving on 13 October but had failed to appear at court. He also has previous convictions for drink driving.”
Members of the public can report suspected drink or drug driving via the hotline on 0800 032 0845.