A former squaddie who upped his alcohol intake to deal with a succession of family and friend deaths drove dangerously at up to 100mph while drunk.
Shaun Kenney, 47, veered his Ford Focus across the dual carriageway A19 as he travelled around 20 miles from Cramlington to Sunderland.
Kenney, of Quin Square, South Hetton, Durham, drove at high speed within feet of the rear of a heavy goods tanker.
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During part of the journey south, he was being tailed by a witness directing police to his whereabouts, magistrates in South Tyneside heard.
He eventually stopped after moving onto a slip road and crashing near a roundabout on Wednesday, December 29.
Prosecutor Niamh Reading said: “Police were alerted to a possible drink-driver in the Cramlington area.
“The person who had reported it stayed on the line and was saying the direction of where the driver was heading.
“An officer saw the defendant’s car weaving between lanes, and he narrowly missed another vehicle.
“He was travelling at around 90mph, and crossed the nearside line at around 100mph. He was weaving and swerving.
“He also narrowly missed an HGV tanker, coming within a car’s length of the rear at 100mph.”
She added: “The car left the A19 and approached a roundabout at speed, colliding with a grassed bank.
“When interviewed, he accepted that he had drunk three-quarters of a bottle of Scotch the previous evening, and a can of Foster’s was in the vehicle.”
Kenney failed a roadside breath test, giving an evidential reading of 101mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mcg.
He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and drink-driving.
Anna Metcalfe, defending, said: “He’s been hard-working all his life and has served in the armed forces.
“He accepts that over the last six months he has begun drinking due to the loss of three family members and a close friend.
“He has referred himself to services for his alcohol addiction.
“If he had been pursued by police with lights and sirens, he would have stopped. He states there were none.”
Magistrates adjourned the case for an all-options report and handed Kenney an interim driving ban.
He will be sentenced at the same court on Tuesday, February 8.
