In mitigation, Adele Graham said her client had no previous convictions and he had suffered a breakdown before setting off on the journey.
Hall had felt trapped in his own home and wanted to get as far away from his life there as possible, she said.
“This was an individual in crisis making a poor decision while in crisis,” she said.
Sentencing Hall, magistrate Tracey McErlain-Burns said Hall was of previous good character and had some difficult personal circumstances.
She explained that while the custody threshold had been crossed, she had decided to suspend any custodial sentence.
Hall was sentenced to 36 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months. Meanwhile, he was told he must carry out rehabilitation activities and abstain from alcohol for 90 days.
Hall was also disqualified from driving for 12 months even though he did not have a licence at the time of the incident, and he was ordered to pay £272 costs.
