A MAN who was found asleep behind the wheel of a car he had bought for his girlfriend has been banned from driving after alcohol was found in his breath.
On June 19, Gregory Hardman, 38, of Methley Street, Cudworth, was found asleep by police at a lay-by on Sandybridge Lane, Shafton, in a Volkswagen Golf.
Following several attempts to wake Hardman up, a roadside breath test was taken and he was found to be over the limit.
The car was also found to be without a valid MOT certificate and Hardman had no insurance to drive the vehicle.
Barnsley Magistrates’ Court was told how Hardman had bought the car four days earlier as a gift for his girlfriend. As he had nowhere to park it, he left it at the lay-by.
A few days later, he received a phone call advising him that youths were ‘eyeing up’ the car, and Hardman decided to sleep in the vehicle in a bid to prevent the vehicle from being damaged or taken.
The court was told that Hardman never intended to drive the vehicle, and he had full intentions of making the vehicle road-legal.
Upon sentencing, District Judge Joanne Hirst accepted that Hardman had not planned to go to the vehicle that evening or drive the car.
Hardman was banned from driving for six months and fined £365.
