A RECOVERING drug addict and sole carer for his disabled elderly mother was jailed after he took her car without her permission while disqualified and drank-drove it into a hedge.

Isle of Wight magistrates lost their patience with Andrew Barnes, of Sandcove Rise, Seaview, for repeatedly flouting court orders. 

Barnes, 48, was jailed for 20 weeks after he admitted drink-driving, driving while disqualified and aggravated vehicle taking, in Seaview, on December 1 last year.

At 8.30pm that day, police attended Old Seaview Lane following a report of a car crashed into a hedge.

On their arrival, Barnes was standing beside his mother's Mercedes car, with his mother, who was driven to the scene by a neighbour after learning about the crash, said Liz Miller, prosecuting, at the IW Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

Barnes was arrested initially on suspicion of driving whilst unfit and he was given a breathalyser test at Newport Police Station, which he failed, providing a reading of 42 microgrammes. The legal limit is 35.

When police interviewed Barnes, he conceded he took his mother's car without her consent (TWOC) and had crashed it.

At the time of the incident, Barnes had been disqualified from driving — two years into a three-year ban for drink-driving, aggravated TWOC and driving without insurance, with 18 months' probation, in 2021.

Barnes, a recovering drug addict, was also convicted of drink-driving and aggravated TWOC in 2014.

For Barnes, Henry Farley said his client is his mother's carer.

"Whenever he does something wrong, he invariably gets caught. He has no guile. He is very honest and feels ashamed of his actions," said Mr Farley.

"He was going to the village shop. He stupidly took the car. His mother was unwell that day and went out to get her medication and took the idiotic decision to drive.

"He is remorseful. He's had an epic battle with class A drugs the past ten years, but things are an awful lot better since being on probation."

As well as being jailed, Barnes was handed a three-year driving ban, with a surcharge of £154 to pay on his release.