A MAN arrested on suspicion of drink-driving tried to make himself be sick by putting his fingers down his throat.

Blackburn magistrates heard Mohammed Khurum Zaman Kiyani then claimed he needed his inhaler because he had asthma, refused to give a sample before he had seen a solicitor, and finally clasped his chest and collapsed on the floor.

Kiyani, 25, of Lincoln Road, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis. He was made subject to a community order for 12 months with 100 hours’ unpaid work and ordered to pay £85 costs and £90 victim surcharge.

He was banned from driving for 36 months after the court heard he had a conviction for driving with excess alcohol in 2017.

Duncan Nightingale, defending, said his client had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

“He accepts there was some foolishness at the police station and he can only apologise for that,” said Mr Nightingale.