A DRINK driver who agreed to give his unwell partner a lift home drove 15 meters before he was stopped by the police.

John Heed, 44, made the “stupid” decision to get behind the wheel of his partner’s Toyota, even though he was uninsured and without a full driving licence.

Unfortunately for him, officers were just around the corner dealing with an unrelated crash.

Colchester Magistrates’ Court heard the sound of his engine revving and the grinding of gravel beneath the wheels alerted the officers.

Sharon Hall, prosecuting, said: “They hear the sound of a car engine revving and gravel being displaced.

“They see Mr Heed driving a car out of a car park.

“For that reason they stopped the vehicle and spoke to him, and because they could smell alcohol they asked for a specimen of breath.”

Tests taken at the police station revealed Heed had 85 mcgs of alcohol in 100 mls of breath.

The legal limit is 35.

Heed, of Mullberry Avenue, Colchester, admitted charges of drink driving, driving without insurance and driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence.

He was pulled over outside a pub in East Road, Mersea, in June.

Matthew Swash, mitigating, said his partner had felt “faint and unwell”, and so Heed made the decision to drive.

“Mr Heed had been out with a partner, they had gone to Mersea and she had been driving as it is her vehicle,” he said.

“He was sitting in one of the pubs in East Street, she came over and wasn’t feeling well, he offered to drive which was a stupid thing to do.

“In actual fact he got about 15 meters before he was stopped.

“They pulled him up right outside the pub.”

He added: “He has damage to his cruciate ligament and a fractured hand and so is on Employment Support Allowance.

“He is hoping at some stage to work.

“It is going to have an impact on future employment.

“From the point they pulled him over, he was fully co-operative.

“The people involved in the other collision actually gave his partner a lift to their home.”

Barry Hawes, chairman of the bench, said: “As your representative said, it is pure stupidity.”

He ordered Heed to pay a total of £235 in court costs and banned him from the roads for 18 months.