A 51-YEAR-OLD motorist who crashed through a garden fence was found to be nearly four times the legal drink drive limit.

Blackburn magistrates heard Stuart Neal Prescott had no recollection of the incident in Billinge End Road, Blackburn at 8pm.

Prescott, of Ryburn Avenue, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol. He was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months, made subject to a community order for 12 months with 20 days rehabilitation activity requirement and ordered to pay £85 costs and £115 victim surcharge. Prescott, who gave a reading of 130 against the legal limit of 35, was banned from driving for 48 months after the court heard he had a previous drink drive conviction in 2010.

Helen Farnsworth, defending, said Prescott could give no clear indication of what happened.

She said weeks before the incident Prescott had contacted the alcohol and drug agency Inspire to seek help with his drinking problem. His background included a spell in the army, which included duty in Northern Ireland, and he was involved with Project Nova, which offers help to veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

A 17 year relationship had broken down and he had been working away and found himself drinking to excess, the court was told.