A YOUNG motorist wrote off his car when he drove after drinking half a bottle of whisky, York Magistrates Court heard.

George Louie Smith, 19, crashed it into two walls as he moved it from where it was blocking a stranger’s drive in Acomb, said Jane Chadwick, prosecuting.

A breath test revealed he was three and a half time the legal alcohol limit.

His solicitor Ghaz Iqbal said Smith was suffering from the impact of the “hidden cost of the pandemic” like many children and young adults.

"This is a time of life when people find their feet, but it has been taken away from George Smith."

But for the pandemic, the offence wouldn't have happened, said the solicitor.

In a probation report, magistrates heard Smith had lost his job early last year, he was not in education and he had been prescribed medicine for anxiety and depression.

Smith, of Hallfield, Wetherby, pleaded guilty to drink driving and possessing ketamine for his own use.

He was given an 18-month community order with 200 hours' unpaid work and 10 days' rehabilitative activities.

He was also disqualified from driving for 30 months and ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and a £95 statutory surcharge.

Mrs Chadwick said Smith left his car blocking a drive in Bouthwaite Drive, Acomb.

He returned with a friend, slurring his words and had difficulty finding his key.

He put it in the ignition and then tried to turn it after the engine had started.

Smith "quickly and abruptly" reversed and drove forwards crashing the car into two walls.

Police found a half-empty bottle of whisky in the car.

A breath test taken at Fulford Road Police Station gave a reading of 128 micrograms in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Smith told officers he couldn't remember the route he had driven from Wetherby to Acomb. He said he had driven to "clear his head" after buying the whisky in Wetherby.

Mr Iqbal said Smith's insurance company had written off his car.

The whisky had been drunk a short time before Smith was tested.