A scaffolder has been told to prepare for prison after taking his girlfriend's car and driving it while "massively over the limit".

Andrew Gasson was more than three times the legal drink-drive limit when he took the vehicle at 3.20am on December 28. He was also disqualified from driving and had no insurance, a court heard.

He was stopped by police in Brook Street, Colchester, where a breath test showed 119mcgs of alcohol. The legal limit is 35mcg.

He admitted the offences when he appeared at Colchester Magistrates' Court yesterday.

District Judge David Cooper adjourned the case for reports but told Gasson, of Valentines Drive, Colchester: "You were massively over the limit, of course.

"The offences are obviously so serious that custody can be justified."

Anna Perera, mitigating, said Gasson had been aware he was disqualified from driving at an earlier date, but did not realise he had to pass his test again before he could hit the roads legally. He was an alcoholic, she said, but had remained dry up until the Christmas period.

Published Friday, February 11, 2005

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