A St Helens man who did 'doughnuts' and crashed into a hedge, while more than four times over the drink-drive limit in the car park of a popular Isle of Wight pub, was spared immediate jail. 

Trevor Pearce, of The Duver, appeared for sentencing at the Isle of Wight Magistrates' Court having already admitted to drink driving and possession of cannabis, at Downend, Newport, on February 25.

Staff at the Hare and Hounds public house and restaurant alerted the police Pearce, 58, was wheelspinning his car in circles in the pub car park — a practice commonly known as doing 'doughnuts', said Tom Corke, prosecuting.

The incident happened at around 4.20pm.

When officers arrived, Pearce stumbled out of his car after he crashed it through a hedge.

Pearce's bottle of vodka, most of its contents already drunk, was found in his car.

Following his arrest, Pearce provided a breath-alcohol reading of 142 microgrammes. The legal limit is 35, putting his reading at more than four time the limit.

For Pearce, Barry Arnett said his client was apologetic and conceded it was "a very serious case", exacerbated by his "inexplicable" actions in a public car park and by carrying a passenger.

Pearce had gone to Southampton earlier that day with a friend, for medical reasons, and returned to the Island, having "self-medicated" with alcohol, connected to him losing his job following an industrial accident he suffered, said Mr Arnett.

Mr Arnett continued: "He told his passenger to get out of his car, before he did what he did. 

"Things could've been worse if he'd pulled out onto the highway. He remembers waking up in a police cell. 

"There was no evidence of him swerving all over the road."

Mr Arnett said Pearce's work accident, in which a nail went through his hand, had caused him sleepless nights and he began drinking.

Pearce was handed 15 weeks' imprisonment, suspended for a year, with a three-year driving ban, £85 costs and a £154 surcharge.