Dudley motorist FIVE times drink limit locked up after police chase

It was the third time in eight years that Harry Mochan had been caught behind the wheel of a car when well over the alcohol limit, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

And when asked why he drove after drinking he replied: 'Because I'm a drunk,' revealed his lawyer.

A police patrol car was stationary while its crew was involved in an unrelated inquiry in Pensnett High Street when the 27-year-old sped by in his Corsa during the early hours of July 4, said Mr Jonathan Veasey-Pugh, prosecuting

Officers followed but he ignored their order to stop and went on several circuits of a nearby estate with them in his wake.

Despite speeds seldom reaching more than 10mph above the limit, he twice lost control and crashed into bollards on streets lined either side with parked cars.

Mochan also rammed the pursuing police car on two occasions when it tried to block him in after he had been forced to stop after failing to take a bend.

The defendant managed to batter his way free the first time in Bell Street but was stuck fast when it happened again in nearby Chapel Street, the court heard.

He was dragged from the vehicle and later gave a breath test reading of 170 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

The levels shown on his two previous offences of drink-driving, in 2009 and 2014, had been 107 and 121, revealed Mr Veasey-Pugh.

Mr Mukhtar Ubbi, defending, pointed out: "Quite a lot of the time he was travelling below the speed limit during the pursuit.

"He is an alcoholic with a high toleration of alcohol and when asked why he was drunk he said: 'I am a drunk.'"

Mr Ubbi continued: "He had been on a drinking session at the home of a friend which was a quarter of a mile from his own address. He admits that he should have walked back but stupidly decided to drive.

"He intended to go just a few hundred years but ended up going round the estate several times with the police behind him."

Mochan from Blewitt Street, Pensnett admitted drink driving, dangerous driving and having no insurance.

He was jailed by Judge Simon Ward who told him: "You were five times over the limit while driving round the estate in a prolonged and extremely dangerous way.

"Although the speeds were not as high as we sometimes see this was on narrow streets with vehicles parked on either side, making it very difficult to go any quicker."