A DRINK driver who was more than three times the legal limit was caught after a witness reported that he had "narrowly missed" colliding with a pedestrian.

At the city’s Rickergate Magistrates’ Court, 32-year-old Alin-Alexandru Chirla-Irimia admitted the offence, telling magistrates he had not touched alcohol at all since he committed the offence.

Prosecutor George Shelley described what happened.

It was 9pm on Friday, October 4, when police received two 999 calls from concerned members of the public who had seen the defendant driving a VW Crafter van in Newlaithes Avenue, Carlisle.

“The second male [who made a 999 call] reported that the vehicle had narrowly missed a pedestrian, so officers headed to the area,” said Mr Shelley. The officers arrived and saw the defendant slowly driving around a corner.

“He then drove down the road, swerving left and right before he was stopped.”

When he was taken out of the vehicle, Chirla-Irimia smelled strongly of alcohol, and he was slurring his words. An evidential breath test at the city’s Police HQ showed he had 122mcg of alcohol in every 100mls of breath.

The legal limit for driving is 35mcg. The defendant has no previous convictions.

Sean Harkin, defending, said being arrested and prosecuted had been a “wake-up call” for the defendant, whose response had been to vow to stop drinking. He had not touched a drop since the incident, said Mr Harkin.

A father of two, Chirla-Irimia had experienced other problems, with members of his family experiencing racism.

Mr Harkin added: “He’d accepted an invitation to go out in the city centre and to drink. He showed poor judgment by deciding to drive home and now regrets that bitterly. The remorse he has shown is genuine.

“He worked as a delivery driver and knows he’s not going to be able to do that anymore.” The defendant had also said he will not repeat the offence.

Magistrates accepted that the defendant had changed his behaviour to prevent future offending but they noted also the poor standard of driving. They imposed a community order with 200 hours of unpaid work.

The defendant was banned for 29 months and told to pay £85 costs and a £114 victim surcharge. They offered the defendant, of Kingrigg, a drink driver rehabilitation course which, if completed by a deadline, will reduce the ban by 29 weeks.