A 20-YEAR-OLD who was struggling to come to terms with the deaths of his mother, best friend and grandmother crashed his car after drinking heavily at the wake of a close family friend, Skipton magistrates were told.

Arthur Bertrum Pighills, from Airton, had acted completely out of character while struggling to cope with the four deaths all in the space of two months, the court heard on Friday.

His mother, whom he had nursed for three years, had died from cancer in July; his best friend from school had then been killed in a car accident; and this was followed by the unexpected death of his grandmother, the magistrates were told.

On August 29 he had been to a wake in Skipton of the close family friend and in an attempt to drown his sorrows, had drunk around ten pints of lager before getting in his car and heading for home.

While taking a back route, he had crashed into a barrier at the junction of Otley Road and the A65, before abandoning his car and walking back into Skipton to get a taxi home.

He was in bed when, early the next morning, Traffic Sergeant Pete Stringer traced him as the registered keeper of the car, which had been found by another officer severely damaged and partially blocking the road.

He provided a positive breath test, was arrested and taken to Skipton Police Station, where he was found to have 58 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Pighills, a man of previous good character, admitted drink-driving, driving without due care and attention, failing to stop, and failing to report an accident. He also admitted leaving the Ford Fiesta in a dangerous position where it could have been a danger to other road users.

In mitigation, John Mewies said Pighills had drunk more than usual in an attempt to drown his sorrows and that it had severely clouded his judgement.

His father added the deaths so close together had left him in a very bad state of mind and that his behaviour had been completely out of character.

It was also highly likely that without his licence, he would lose his job.

The magistrates, who acknowledged Pighills had suffered great trauma at such a young age, fined him £475 for driving without due care and attention, failing to stop and failing to report an accident. He was banned from driving for a year for driving while over the limit, and ordered to pay costs of £85 and £47 victims surcharge. There was no separate penalty for leaving the car in a dangerous position.