Durham University catering department worker Christopher Michael Robson trembled throughout the hearing at Peterlee Magistrates Court, where he appeared charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, without insurance, without a licence and without due care and attention.
Paul Lee, prosecuting, said Robson was found to have 173 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – almost five times the legal limit, and it was his third time before magistrates charged with a drink-drive offence.
The 27-year-old pleaded guilty to all four charges, which related to an incident on April 13 this year.
He was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison, disqualified from driving for three years, and given 17 points on his licence for driving with undue care and attention, without insurance and without a licence.
Mary Gill, chairwoman of the bench, said: "Mr Robson, I know you realise that you are in a really difficult situation today, but you have put the bench in a very difficult situation.
"It's the highest reading we have ever come across for anyone. It's a wonder you didn't kill anyone."
Robson was caught after witnesses saw him driving erratically along the A690 near Belmont.
Passengers driving behind Robson's Skoda Felicia saw him swerve and veer off the road, before he carried on towards Belmont.
He later made his way home to The Links, Durham, by foot.
A subsequent police investigation found that Robson has damaged a number of cars near to the Woodman Inn near Gilesgate.
The court heard that police tracked Robson down with the help of witnesses and the DVLA, but at first he claimed his car had been stolen, but later admitted the offences.
Paul Lee, prosecuting, said: "He explained that during the course of April 12 he had been out in the afternoon and evening drinking four to five pints of lager, then come home at 7 or 8 o'clock, freshened up, then gone back out and had five to six pints of lager and returned home between one and two on the morning of April 13.
"One he was at home he realised he'd lost his phone and decided to drive back to Durham."
Jaxon Taylor, mitigating, asked the court to consider some form of alcohol rehabilitation, as Robson had admitted he had problems with alcohol.
He said: "He concedes that when he drinks he drinks to excess and often it has lead him to engage in behaviour which he knows is wrong and which he would not ordinarily do."
The court also heard that Robson suffers from fits when under stress due to a stroke which has left him with blood clots on the brain.