AN alcoholic found slumped in his car twice in a month after consuming vast amounts of alcohol, has been jailed following his fifth drink-driving conviction.

Andrew Davey, of East View, Marlesford, near Woodbridge, was also disqualified from driving for 10 years.

He was nearly four times the legal drink-drive limit on the first occasion, and almost three times the limit four weeks later.

During one of the offences Davey also crashed into a car on the A12 before leaving the scene.

Jailing the 53-year-old for a total of 24 weeks District Judge David Cooper told him: “If you don’t eventually kill yourself, sadly you might well kill someone else – someone totally innocent.

“Ironically, this sentence is more likely to save your life, than it is others. I would like you to view it that way, rather than as a punishment.”

Earlier South East Suffolk Magistrates’ Court heard there was a dispute over whether Davey has Korsakoff’s syndrome – a brain disorder associated with heavy, prolonged alcohol consumption.

Although his GP and substance abuse organisation Norcas believed he has the syndrome, medical experts at Ipswich’s St Clement’s Hospital do not.

The court was told Davey was on bail for the first drink-driving offence when police found him in his car, with the engine running, in Grove Road, Felixstowe, just after 11pm on July 21. He had been seen driving the wrong way around roundabouts and weaving on to the wrong side of roads.

A breath test showed he had 103microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mcgs.

He had previously been charged with drink-driving after being found in Chitts Hill, Colchester, at 4.15pm on June 25. On that occasion he had 129mcgs in 100mls of breath.

Earlier that day Davey’s Volvo collided with a Renault Laguna next to a garage on the A12 at Feering.

Davey admitted two drink-driving charges, failure to stop after an accident, having no insurance twice, and driving without a licence twice.

Among his previous three drink-driving convictions was one in May 2001 where Davey was jailed for 90 days and given a five-year driving ban.

The court heard Davey, whose stepfather and mother were in court, was desperate for help.

Sympathising with Davey’s plight, Judge Cooper said: “It’s got to be heartbreaking. A letter from his stepfather says his mother found him [Davey] unconscious in the garden surrounded by nine brandy bottles. He had to be rushed to hospital.”

Judge Cooper also made mention of a “succession of drunken escapades”.

He added Davey had to go to prison as there were not enough rehabilitation units and because of an increase in fatal accidents in Suffolk linked to alcohol over the past year.