Dominic Ryan Hood, 22, had been out on a drinking binge in Whitby before getting into his mate’s red Audi TT sports car and driving off in the early hours despite “struggling to stand upright”, York Crown Court heard.
Hood, who had been staying at the Raithwaite Hall Hotel in Sandsend, had made an earlier excursion outside the hotel grounds and managed to destroy the Audi’s front tyre, said prosecutor Eleanor Mitten.
He then returned to the hotel lobby and told a night porter he was popping out to buy a cigarette lighter from a local service station and ignored the porter’s pleas to take a taxi.
“He said he was going to drive to the Shell garage to get one,” said Ms Mitten.
“He tried to drive away but got stuck at the bottom of the car park due to the missing front tyre,” she added.
Hood finally managed to drive out of the car park as the porter called police who found the Audi parked nearby.
Ms Mitten said that when an officer got out of the police van and ordered Hood to get out of the car,…
