A convicted drink-driver has been jailed for six months after he was caught drunk at the wheel twice in a month.

The individual concerned was first caught in Seaside Road, Eastbourne, on 12 June when his Mercedes hit a parked car while three times the drink-drive limit. When the defendant was arrested, he denied having been drinking but said he had drunk more than three litres of apple juice that day and said that must have put him over the limit.

The defendant was charged with drink-driving and appeared at Hastings Magistrates’ Court on 25 June but the case was adjourned until the end of July and he was released on bail. He was stopped again on 1 July in Broadwater Way, Eastbourne, and found to be more than four times the drink-drive limit.

At 11.15pm a member of the public saw the defendant in the Sainsbury’s car park in the road where he crashed into shopping trolleys, damaging his rear lights, and then drove off into Broadwater Way with smoke pouring from his car because it was being driven at speed in the wrong gear.

Half an hour later police found the defendant in the driving seat of the Mercedes in Hampden Park Drive. His lights were on and coolant was coming from the radiator where he had struck the pavement.

When the defendant was breathalysed he recorded a reading of 154 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath – more than four times the legal limit of 35 microgrammes.

The driver had previously been banned from the roads in 2010 after he was caught drink-driving. When he appeared at court he pleaded guilty to both drink-driving charges and was jailed for six months. He was also banned from the roads for five years.

Superintendent Jane Derrick said:

“he was well over the limit both times when he crashed. Who knows how many other times he had driven while drunk but had got away with it.”

“It is only through luck that he has not seriously hurt or even killed someone before he has been jailed. He has repeatedly chosen to get behind the wheel after drinking, so clearly does not think about how his actions could affect other people.”

“It would appear that only being in prison will stop him from putting more people in danger on the roads.”