A speeding motorist, who told police his baby had stopped breathing, has admitted drink driving.

Ivan Sadler, 31, of St Andrew's Avenue, Colchester, was spotted driving at excessive speed in a 30mph zone in a Volvo estate at 11.20pm on June 11, the town's magistrates heard yesterday.

Annette Redgrave, prosecuting, said police stopped him in Greenstead Road.

"He claimed his wife had called him to say his baby son had stopped breathing," she said.

"She had made a phone call to the pub to ask for him to return home."

She added they went to Sadler's home where his wife was sleeping with the children.

A test showed Sadler had 71mcgs alcohol in every 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35. He was banned from driving for 18 months and fined £160.

Sadler, who was not represented, said: "I hadn't been out for two months because my son has had a hole in his heart. I went out with no intention of drinking at all and I saw some old friends who had heard I had recently become a father again to twins.

"Then my partner phoned and I panicked because she said his lips were going blue. I just didn't give it a second thought that I had been drinking."

He added the child had suffered a temper fit causing difficulty with its breathing.

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