DRINK-driver Hayden Russell left behind vital clues when he ran off from the police – footsteps in the snow.

Officers were able to follow his footsteps and found him hiding nearby, a court was told.

Russell, 33, of Maxwell Close in Buckley, was found to be twice the drink-drive limit.

Appearing at Flintshire Magistrates Court at Mold, he was banned from driving for 20 months and fined £190 with £200 costs and a £30 surcharge.

He was also fined £200 after be admitted being in breach of a suspended prison sentence.

Prosecutor Justin Espie told how police saw a Ford Transit tipper truck in Mold Road, Buckley, at 11pm on Friday, March 2 and followed it.

The motorist did not stop initially and continued to drive but it stopped near an opening and he got out of the vehicle and ran off.

Police gave chance and found him hiding outside a nearby address.

Phillip Lloyd-Jones, defending, said police quickly apprehended him.

“He ran away but he did not succeed. It had been snowing.

“It was quiet, there was no-one else around, and the police just followed his footsteps in the snow, literally, to where he was actually hiding,” Mr Lloyd Jones said.

Russell, said Mr Lloyd-Jones, had been through a difficult time.

His stepfather had died and he had been drinking a little bit too much.

That night he had been out with friends, and instead of walking home he started to drive his vehicle a short distance before police saw him.

He had initially pleaded not guilty among suggestions of post driving consumption but he had accepted advice and changed his plea after scientific evidence did not support his proposed defence.

Russell was in breach of a suspended sentence but a substantial period of time had elapsed since it was imposed, the solicitor said.

His client was not suitable to do unpaid work following a recent incident in which he suffered fractures to the cheek and eye socket, bruising to the brain and severe concussion.