A drunk hit and run driver from Brighton has been spared a prison sentence after fleeing the scene of a crash.
James North, 60, unemployed, of Hampden Road, Brighton, was arrested yards from his home – in Elm Grove – on Thursday 1 July.
A short while before, he was at the wheel of a two-year-old silver Vauxhall Astra SRI (sport rally injection) automatic in Old Steine, Brighton.
North damaged a grey Peugeot 207 when he crashed into it but, instead of stopping, he drove off.
When police caught up with him in Elm Grove, they breathalysed him and found that he had drunk nearly three times as much alcohol as the law permits.
Martina Sherlock, prosecuting, said, that North had 94 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.
He pleaded guilty to drink driving and failing to stop after an accident when he appeared before Brighton magistrates on Thursday 5 August.
The bench banned North from the road for two years for drink driving and sentenced him to 80 hours of unpaid work over 12 months and five days of rehabilitation.
Presiding magistrate John Tierney said: “The defendant is a persistent offender, previously fined. It is in the interests of justice to make a community order instead of imposing a fine for this offence.”
North was fined £146 for the hit and run and ordered to pay a £95 victim surcharge and £85 prosecution costs, making £326 in total.
Why on earth was he spared prison? And what is going in the brains of judges today? Clearly this thug is a danger to the community and should be locked away for a very long time.