"The defendant and his partner had, that day, had a stillbirth, his partner was full term pregnant and had lost the baby that day.
"It seems the house they were living in was contaminated by meth and it may have contributed to that.
"When that happened Mr Gibbons reacted with some anger to the previous people that had lived there and had a few drinks and decided to go out looking for the previous people.
"He didn't manage to achieve that thankfully."
Ms Elder said the level of alcohol was not "worryingly high".
Judge Peter Hobbs said Gibbons had been prompted by tragedy to drink and make the decision to drive.
"There is no suggestion that you have ongoing problems with alcohol and driving."
He sentenced Gibbons to 50 hours' community work and disqualified him from driving for eight months.