A priest caught behind the wheel while more than three times the drink-drive limit has been electronically tagged and given a curfew.

Father Kenneth Hawley was caught swerving all over the road and crossing the carriageway in Thornton Road, Bradford, by an off-duty police officer on February 15 this year.

Mr Hawley, who has worked at St Brendan’s Church in Ravenscliffe, admitted driving above the limit.

He was sentenced to 15 months’ community service with supervision and was electronically tagged with a curfew between 10pm and 8am for three months.

He was also banned from driving for four years and ordered to pay £85 court costs.

Magistrates in Bingley were told he was first seen at traffic lights at Allerton Road, near the cemetery, where he was straddling both lanes.

It took him a long time before he set off at green and at first went very slowly.

Prosecutor Marina Hunter-Grey said he was followed along Thornton Road, at one moment driving slowly and the next taking off at speed.

He swerved all over the road and the officer was fearful he would crash or hit oncoming traffic.

At a mini-roundabout he hesitated before driving straight over it and at Brighouse and Denholme Road traffic lights he went across the other side of the road as he set off.

He eventually stopped in Perseverance Road, Queensbury, and the officer approached him and when he wound down the window he could smell intoxicants.

The officer removed the keys from the ignition and Hawley apologised for drinking. When an on-duty officer arrived, Hawley struggled to get out of his vehicle and when he did he could barely stand up and staggered towards the police vehicle needing assistance.

He was eventually taken to the police station where a breath sample was taken which revealed he had 117 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – the limit being 35.

Before sentence, magistrates were told that Hawley failed to attend an appointment with probation officers for a pre-sentence report.

He had given the excuse that he was ill at the time and the bench was told that he was unsuitable for alcohol assessment because he would not accept that he had an alcohol problem.

Hawley’s solicitor Tom Rushbrook said that his client binge-drank and suffered from depression.

“The root cause of his behaviour is his depression and he is being supported by friends and people at work to help him through it. He is very ashamed of what has happened.”

Hawley who now lives at Four Seasons, Bradshaw Lane, Halifax, had intended not to drive again.

“All the harsh words have been said to him and he is not burying his head in the sand. He is doing something to positively address the problem.”

  • Read the full story in Tuesday's T&A