DRINK driver Tracy Kelsey is clearly very stupid. He is also very lucky.

He is very stupid because he drove his car up the A1 despite being four times over the limit – the sixth time he has been convicted of drink driving.

And he is very lucky because he could easily have been facing manslaughter charges. It is pure chance that he has avoided killing someone through his idiotic behaviour.

Kelsey, of Darlington, is the kind of man who is the ordinary, sensible motorist’s worst nightmare.

He gets drunk, races around like a maniac, and makes obscene gestures as he speeds past other drivers.

From his point of view, he could not have picked on a worse victim than the Chief Constable of Durham, Jon Stoddart.

Well done to Durham’s police chief for bringing Kelsey to a halt at the earliest opportunity.

But there will be many who will consider Kelsey to be very lucky indeed to have escaped without being sent to jail.

His track record suggests that he is likely to drink-drive again despite being banned from getting behind the wheel for five years.

Drink driving is an extremely serious offence which threatens lives, and the criminal justice system must send out a strong warning that it will not be tolerated.

We acknowledge that Kelsey is a man who has a serious drink problem and needs urgent help.

But we question whether yesterday’s sentence sends out a strong enough message to the very stupid, very selfish people of the world who drive after drinking too much alcohol.