Edwinstowe driver with permanent hiccoughs couldn’t use breathalyser test

Garage staff saw David Anker pouring vodka into his bottle and driving off in the early hours of February 29, said prosecutor Daniel Wilshaw.

The police were informed and they went to his address at 3.10am to find his car engine was still warm.

Anker, who was unsteady on his feet and smelling of alcohol, refused to provide a specimen of breath despite being given a number of chances.

He was taken to King's Mill Hospital after lying on the floor and vomiting, and his blood pressure was in “an alarming state.”

He was unable to take the breathalyser and refused to provide a blood sample even though one had already been taken for medical reasons.

Anker, 58, told officers he refused because he was on medication and wanted to speak to his doctor.

Mr Wilshaw said the offence was aggravated by his "deliberate refusal and the high level of impairment.”

Treve Lander, mitigating, said Anker suffers from anxiety, depression and a condition which causes continual hiccoughs.

“He remembers suffering from anxiety rather than high impairment,” said Mr Lander. “He didn't fully understand the predicament he was in and the consequences of it.”

Anker, aged 58, of Greenwood Avenue, Edwinstowe, admitted failing to provide, when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Wednesday.

He received eight weeks, suspended for one year, with ten rehabilitation days. He was banned for 32 months but a rehabilitation course could reduce the ban by 25 per cent.