A MOTORIST was nearly three times the alcohol limit when he was caught drink driving for the second time.

A member of the public alerted police when Shaun Patrick Gulwell, 54, drove to Tesco in Selby for more lager after drinking at home, York magistrates heard.

Melanie Ibbotson, prosecuting, said a breath test gave a reading of 96 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Gulwell, of Windmill Rise, Tadcaster, pleaded guilty to drink driving. He has a conviction for a similar offence in 2015.

Magistrates banned him from driving for 40 months, ordered him to do 100 hours’ unpaid work and ordered him to pay a £90 statutory surcharge and £85 prosecution costs.

For Gulwell, Caroline Aaron said his partner had died recently in an accident.

“He is drinking quite a lot to block out the feelings he had about her death,” she said. “He accepts he made a very bad decision.”

Ms Ibbotson said a witness at Tesco in Portholme Road realised Gulwell had been drinking when he saw him get out of the vehicle and go into the store.

He took the car’s registration number and passed it to police.