A lost holiday-maker crashed into a verge after drinking red wine on the journey to Newcastle Emlyn, a court has heard.

John Eaglesfield Chasemore, aged 53, of 151 Rush Hill, Bath, appeared before Aberystwyth Magistrates on Wednesday morning.

He pleaded guilty to driving while over the legal alcohol limit, driving without third-party insurance and without a valid licence on the B4333 near Newcastle Emlyn.

The court heard that police were called to a traffic collision at 5.30pm on August 6 and arrived at the scene to find a VW Golf had collided with a grass verge.

Chasemore’s wife initially said she had been driving, but officers noted a seat-belt injury from the crash which would have been sustained in the passenger’s seat.

Dennis Davies, prosecuting, told the court the defendant was found sitting on the grass, and was clearly drunk.

He said: “His wife said her husband had insisted on driving for the last 10 minutes of the journey from Bath, and he had been drinking a bottle of red wine.”

Chasemore was arrested and found to have 93mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, the legal limit is 35mg. The court heard this was his second offence of this kind in the last 10 years, and he had consumed four bottles of red wine that day.

Magistrates were told that Chasemore had insisted on driving when the couple were unable to find their way to a holiday cottage in the area.

Janan Jones, defending, said her client, a part-time researcher and political analyst, had fully admitted the offence when taken to the police station.

She added that he suffered from bi-polar disorder, and binge drank rather than drinking regularly.

She said: “He has a very supportive wife, on this day when he insisted he should drive, he feels he could have killed her. He is extremely remorseful and has been crying in court today.”

After reading a probation report, magistrates imposed an 18 month community order with 12 months supervision and an activity to address alcohol issues.

He was also sentenced to 50 hours unpaid work, disqualified from driving for 36 months and ordered to pay £85 court costs plus a £60 victim surcharge.