A motorist from Wolverhampton has avoided jail after being banned for the fourth time on drink-driving charges.

Karta Ram Summon was three times the legal limit.

He was stopped by police last month and prosecutor David Parsons told Wolverhampton Magistrates Court that the 60-year-old had been followed by officers who saw him walking unsteadily towards his car.

Ram, who was behind the wheel of a J-reg Mercedes then drove off. “They saw the car being driven in a rather wobbly fashion with the vehicle moving from one side to the other,” said Mr Parsons.

Tests showed Summon from Ridge Lane, Wednesfield, had a blood-alcohol reading of 240 when the legal limit is 80.

He told police that he had been celebrating with a friend who had just become a grandfather.

Ravi Dev, defending, told an earlier hearing that his client thought he was under the limit and had “made a mistake.”

It was suggested that Summon’s ability to cope with alcohol might have been affected by medication he took for diabetes and a heart condition.

He was originally banned from driving in 1992 after failing to give a breath or blood test.

Another disqualification came five years later for driving with excess alcohol and the third ban followed an identical offence committed in 1999.

The case had been adjourned for a pre-sentence report which was read by District Judge Shamin Qureshi before he gave Summon a six-week jail sentence suspended for 12 months and banned him from driving for three years.

At the hearing, on Tuesday, the defendant was ordered to pay £45 costs and attend a drink impaired drivers course.