Motorist was so drunk he drove four miles with only three wheels

A motorist was so drunk he didn’t realise he was driving a car with a wheel missing. Andrew Mackay trundled through a city centre with sparks flying from the bare metal hub as ­astonished police trailed him for four miles after he left a New Year’s Eve party.

The partly-deaf 29-year-old narrowly escaped jail, despite being three times the legal limit when he was stopped. Recorder Mr Michael Norman gave jobless Mackay a 10-month suspended sentence and a three-year driving ban. He told him: “You had a gross amount of alcohol, you weren’t able to ­exercise self-control and you were seen four miles before you were stopped.


Images from SWNS.

“The comic aspect of driving a car with three wheels is well outweighed by the dangerous aspect of you doing so in a state of inebriation.” Mackay admitted driving with excess alcohol and dang­er­ous driving. He had left the party and set off for his home at Bitton, near Bristol.

Mackay lost a tyre but was so ­inebriated he never noticed and the metal wheel of his Skoda Octavia wore away completely, leaving just the central hub it was originally attached to. Prosecutor Neil Treharne told Bristol crown court: “The car had three wheels. It should have had four.” Mr Norman also ordered Mackay to do 150 hours unpaid work and obey a night-time curfew for the next six weeks.