A banned motorist who drove a coach full of children to a Black Country school on a false licence while three times the alcohol limit was today starting a 17-month jail sentence.

Sanjeev Madahar had been working 35 hours a week in the job for 10 months despite having four previous convictions for driving whilst disqualified and three for driving with excess alcohol.

The 43-year-old had stopped boozing less than three-and-a-half hours before taking the wheel of the Thandi Executive coach for the morning trip to Sandwell Academy on July 5, prosecutor Mrs Sati Ruck told Wolverhampton Crown Court.

She added: “Within five minutes it became apparent to the steward on the coach that the driver was going in the wrong direction.”

His speech was slurred and he had difficulty making himself understood, the court was told.

The steward reported him to school staff when the coach reached Sandwell Academy and police were called, said Mrs Ruck.

Tests showed that Madahar had 238mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. The legal limit for driving is 80.

He had been jailed for driving while disqualified and using an illegal driving licence twice before. But last year he tricked the DVLA into giving him a driving licence in the name of Bobby Madhar and he used it to get the job with Thandi Executive on September 1 2010, said Mrs Ruck.

He worked driving children to school two or three times a week and also took trippers on coach tours.

Mr Robert Perry, defending, said his client was “desperate” and had not thought through the consequences.

Madahar, from Blue Cedar Drive, Streetly, admitted gaining employment through a false driving licence and driving with excess alcohol while banned. Recorder Graham Huston told him he was “reckless”.

By John Scott