A SILIAN man crashed his car while over the drink-drive limit, magistrates have heard.

David John Edwards, 35, pleaded guilty to drink-driving on 31 March after his car was involved in a crash that left his partner with a slight head injury. He also admitted a charge of possession of cannabis after a small quantity of the drug was found in his car.

But his solicitor, Kevin Williams, claimed Edwards was “being gallant” in driving home his partner and insisted the crash was caused by a blown-out tyre and not because of his driving.

Prosecutor Helen Tench said police attended to the crash on the B4340 at Ystrad Meurig and found Edwards’ VW Golf blocking the road.

The officer found that a female passenger in the car had suffered a minor head injury and Edwards, of 7 Clos Tawela, approached the officer to say that he had been driving and admitted that he had been drinking.

Ms Tench told Aberystwyth magistrates Edwards had been slurring his words slightly.

She said that a search of the car found a tobacco pouch which had 0.5 grammes of cannabis inside it.

A breath test showed Edwards had 54 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

Mr Williams said Edwards had been out with a friend in Llanon and had drunk alcohol there. He said that while Edwards would normally stay with a friend or family members, he had decided to drive to take his partner home.

He said: “He was gallant. He didn’t want to leave her there.”

Mr Williams said a tyre on the car had burst, which had led to Edwards hitting a bank, causing the crash.

He added that Edwards rarely drinks and said that Edwards would be affected by a driving ban as it would mean he would have to cycle five miles to work.

He added that Edwards was likely to keep his full-time job, but that he would have to quit two part-time jobs that he also worked.

Edwards was banned from driving for a year and ordered to pay a fine of £250 plus costs totalling £115.