A drunk driver who blamed his dentist for his alcohol reading has been banned.
Barry Squire, from Ifield, claimed he was unsteady and slurring after smashing into a car because his dentist had given him 12 injections of anaesthetic before having his tooth pulled out.
The 45-year-old man, who pleaded not guilty to driving a motor vehicle with excess alcohol, was disqualified at Haywards Heath Magistrates’ Court yesterday (Tuesday) when ‘no medical evidence’ was produced to back up his claims.
Squire, of Rusper Road, collided with a vehicle after a dentist appointment and a drinking session on 3 July 2007.
He said: ‘I had a toothache so I went to the dentist. The dentist gave me the standard amount of anaesthetic but it didn’t numb my tooth. I was given about 12 injections and my tooth was extracted.
‘I left the dentist and went to The Duck pub in Haywards Heath. I had one-and-a-half pints of lager. I was heading back to Crawley when I clipped a car. My car spun over and I was in a complete daze.’
The court heard Squire was almost two times over the limit when he was breathalysed.
The father added: ‘I don’t know whether it was the anaesthetic or the fact that I am diabetic that caused the reading. I might have looked legless but I was slurring and unsteady because my face and mouth were numb from the anaesthetic.’
Magistrate Stuart Hetherington said: ‘No medical evidence had been provided so we are unable to take the anaesthetic and diabetes into account. We find you guilty.’
Squire was disqualified from driving for 16 months, fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £365 court costs.
