A Kilgetty man who stole his friend’s taxi whilst drunk has been banned from driving for 16 months and given a community order for a year.

Thirty-four-year-old John Paul Adderley, of Penrath Farm, Ryelands Lane, appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday, to plead guilty to driving a motor vehicle when above the prescribed limit; taking a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent; using a motor vehicle in a public place without third party insurance; and driving a motor vehicle otherwise than in accordance with a licence.

Prosecutor Ellie Morgan told the court that police received a call at 11.45 pm on May 24, where a witness said that they had witnessed a resident of Penrath Farm caravan park driving off site in a taxi seemingly intoxicated.

Police officers were deployed to the area, and it was reported that the vehicle driven by Mr. Adderley had returned to the site, but he was struggling to park it and almost hit a caravan.

“Police could then see car lights appear in front of them and suddenly a vehicle with a taxi sign on top pulled out of a junction,” Ms Morgan told the court.

“It then stopped and reversed back, stalled and restarted, but it was up against a hedge bank.

“Officers removed the keys from the car’s ignition, and it was clear that the driver Mr. Adderley was intoxicated, as his eyes were glazed and he was slurring his speech.”

Mr. Adderley was asked what he was doing and told officers ‘I’m going for a spin’ before refusing to get out of the car.

“After he was pulled out by officers, he told them that it was his friend’s car and he had let him borrow it to practice his driving,” continued Ms Morgan.

Magistrates heard how the vehicle’s owner was contacted who said that at no time had he invited anyone to use his car.

In a police interview, Mr. Adderley said that he had been to the pub at about 4.45 pm that day to watch the Man Utd match and consumed about 10 pints, before getting a taxi home.

When back home, he ended up drinking whisky and wine with his friend and neighbour, who was the owner of the taxi he took.

“He told officers ‘I don’t know what I was thinking to be honest, obviously I wasn’t on this planet’, before stating that he was ‘steaming’ and was ‘kind of pleased’ that he’d been caught as he could have ended up killing someone or himself,” added Ms Morgan.

The court heard how Mr. Adderley was in breach of a conditional discharge imposed for theft.

Probation officer Julie Norman told magistrates that the defendant had an extensive history of previous convictions, including serving a jail term for robbery.

Magistrates gave Mr. Adderley a 12-month conditional discharge, with a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement of 20 days, to address his alcohol issues.

He was told he would have to undertake 150 hours of unpaid work in the community, and that he would be disqualified from driving for 16 months.

The defendant was also ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £330.