AN out-of-work landscape gardener from Starbotton was stopped twice for drink driving within days and with identical readings, Skipton magistrates heard.

Michael Fox, 33, was stopped on June 18 on the A1 heading towards Scotch Corner, and eight days later he was again over the limit when he crashed his car into a tree on the B6160 at Kilnsey, the court was told on Friday.

Fox was badly injured and spent several days in Airedale Hospital with injuries including a fractured wrist and a ruptured bladder, caused by the steering wheel hitting his abdomen.

A blood test taken at the hospital revealed he had 81 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, the legal limit is 80.

The court heard he had an identical reading when he was stopped on June 18, for which he received a 12-month driving ban from Northallerton Magistrates on August 15.

Fox, who admitted drink driving and driving without due care and attention on June 26, had been diagnosed with a degenerative mental illness in the 1990s that had led to acute depression, the court heard in mitigation.

Defence solicitor John Mewies said Fox lived in an isolated place with his parents and his prospects of employment were virtually nil.

Magistrates banned Fox from driving for 12 months and fined him £150, with costs of £85 and a victims surcharge of £20. He was not offered the drink drivers rehabilitation course as that had already been offered him at the Northallerton court.