An HR manager who was banned from driving after refusing to give a sample of breath has had his sentence slashed after a court heard he was suffering a mental health episode at the time he was arrested.

William Dawson, 33, was arrested on suspicion of drink driving after being found asleep in his car at the side of the road on Wednesday August 8.

But when he refused to be breathalysed, officers from Cumbria Police Station took him to Barrow Police Station and gave him another opportunity.

Preston Crown Court heard Dawson became aggressive with officers and was placed in a cell.

He was so resistant, it took a number of officers to search him at the station, the court heard.

Dawson refused to co-operate with the procedure, telling officers, “I’m bipolar. I need insulin.”

When he refused to provide a sample he was charged with failing to provide a specimen of breath and appeared at South Cumbria Magistrates Court.

Magistrates placed him under a 12 week curfew for 11 hours a day and banned him from driving for two years.

He appeared at Preston Crown Court to appeal his sentence.

Kimberley Obrusik, representing Dawson, said her client had completed legal training and taken a job as an HR manager at Kimberly Clark in Barrow.

He had moved away from family and friends in the North East to take up the position, which exacerbated his mental health difficulties, she said.

“He was in the throes of a manic episode with no-one around him”, Miss Obrusik told the court.

“He was asleep in his vehicle at the time; he was woken, confused and refused to provide a breath test.”

The court heard Dawson had lost his job as a result of the case and returned to live with his family.

Recorder Tim Harrington, accompanied by two magistrates, accepted Dawson was suffering a bipolar episode and reduce his curfew to seven weeks - the time he has already served.

They also reduced his driving ban to one year as a result of the appeal.

Earlier this month, magistrates granted him permission to move from his home in Cavendish Street, Ulverston, back to his family home in Stanton Street, South Shields.