A GRIEVING son who drank a bottle of whisky before getting behind the wheel, was told he gave the highest alcohol reading a magistrate had ever seen.

Staff at a petrol station called the police after Guy Russell drove off while seemingly heavily drunk and was later found to be more than four times over the limit.

Appearing before magistrates on Thursday, the 48-year-old was told by chair of the bench Jayne Burton she had never seen a reading “that high” – adding: “It is so serious, it is off the scale.”

Russell was stopped by officers on Worcester Road, Droitwich, on October 7, and admitted to having also drank four cans of cider before driving his Fiat Punto car.

His own defence solicitor, Belinda Ariess, called it a “phenomenally high reading” and “one of the highest I have come across”.

Roger Bleazard, prosecuting, said the defendant had stopped at the BP garage and bought another bottle of whisky and staffed “were so worried” they called the police.

At the police station, Russell, of Showell Grove, Droitwich, gave a reading of 150 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath – the limit being 35.

Mrs Ariess said her client had left his job to care for his dad after he had a stroke in March 2016, and his dad then died earlier this year.

“He had always had what he recognises as alcohol issues which were exacerbated by the loss of his father,” she said.

The court heard that Russell had suffered from bouts of depression since he was a teenager, and currently takes medication, which helps, but he did attempt suicide in August.

The solicitor said the defendant had attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings but “that was not the right setting for him”.

Jayne Stewart, of the Probation Service, said Russell admitted to consuming an average of 20 alcoholic drinks a day at his worst.

Mrs Stewart said, “that coping mechanism needs to be broken”.

The court heard that Russell currently lives with his mum and her partner and is no longer drinking at all.

Mrs Ariess said he is now “completely different to the man I saw at the police station” after his arrest, adding that he attended his first session at Swanswell on Wednesday.

Russell was given a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months and was banned from driving for 36 months.

He was also ordered to pay £250 in court costs.