A TEENAGE motorist who drove a friend home from the pub ended up in his car on its side in a field after he struck a lamppost, a court heard.

Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court was told by prosecutor Joanne Hesse on Thursday (May 5) that 18-year-old Cameron Ball lost control of his Suzuki Swift on Cleves Avenue in Ferryhill in the early hours of April 16.

When police arrived at the scene they could smell alcohol and a breath test later revealed Ball was almost three times the legal drink drive limit, with 90mg of alcohol in his system.

Ball, who was uninjured, admitted to drink driving and told officers he offered to take a friend home from the pub they had been drinking in.

Magistrates stood the case down for a report and later heard from the probation service that Ball had been drinking in the pub from 6pm to 1am but then stood outside chatting for a while so thought he had sobered up enough to drive.

The probation officer said Ball was a mechanical engineering student and showed remorse for his actions, particularly for the impact they had on his mother who paid for his driving lessons and bought the car for him.

Magistrates disqualified him from driving for 23-months and sentenced him to a one-year community order with 60 hours of unpaid work.

Ball, of Dunning Road, Ferryhill, was also told to pay an £80 victim surcharge.