A pub landlord recorded one of the highest drink drive readings a court has ever seen after giving a customer a lift home – while more than FOUR times the legal limit.

Darryl Cook, 33, was told he could have killed someone when he jumped behind the wheel of his Fiesta after a night knocking back pints at the Long Hop in Sittingbourne.

But the “outrageous” decision came back to haunt him when police spotted him swerving across the town’s London Road and pulled him over.

After stumbling out of the car and falling against it, Cook was breathalysed and had 152 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath.

The legal limit is just 35.

Cook - who used to work at the Peter Cushing and Saxon Shore Wetherspoon pubs in Whitstable and Herne Bay - was arrested and admitted drink driving at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court.

Defending himself, he said he had gone into “meltdown” after the break-up of his relationship with partner Sarah Gould and was drinking eight pints of lager a day.

He said his drink problem had become so bad that staff at his own pub had been ordered not to serve him.

“I was working seven days a week from morning to late at night and, with the relationship break-up, I was in a very dark place,” he told the court.

“I went into meltdown for two weeks following the break-up and I hit rock bottom. I’m now moving forward and dealing with the issues I have had.

“Now I would like to get on with my life and never come back here again, to be honest.”

Cook said he had now rekindled his relationship with Ms Gould and hoped to transfer the pub to her after handing in his notice.

Before sentencing, chairman of the magistrates Dave Mann told Cook the reading was so high that the bench was considering sending him to prison.

But after deliberations, the landlord escaped with a 150-day sentence, suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to attend an alcohol treatment programme for six months, banned from driving for three years and told to pay £250 in fines and costs.

Mr Mann told him: “This was one of the highest readings the bench has ever seen, and we have been here for a very long time.

“This is not an accolade. It is outrageous. You could have killed someone.”