A Swansea grandfather has been sentenced for dangerous driving after he led police on a high-speed chase because he was worried he was over the drink driving limit.
Prosecuting, Georgia Donohue said that a police officer noticed a car being driven in an “erratic manner” on 25 November 2022. The office followed the car, continuing to observe it swerving across the road and not maintaining a constant speed. He signalled for the vehicle to pull over and illuminated the blue lights on his police vehicle.
The defendant ignore the signal and joined the eastbound carriageway of the M4.
Once on the motorway, the defendant raced toward the next junction at speeds of up to 100mph, more than twice the speed limit of 50mph, while both over- and under-taking other vehicles.
Exiting at the next junction, the driver then ran through a red light, forcing another vehicle to perform an emergency stop, before speeding around a bypass, ultimately abandoning his car. Pursuing officers caught up to him shortly thereafter.
A roadside breath test came back positive for alcohol, but an evidential sample taken following his arrest found him to be under the drink driving limit.
During his police interview, the defendant made “frank admissions” about his driving, confessing that he had not stopped for officers because he had consumed cider before getting behind the wheel and thought he may be over the limit.
Further investigation found the 44-year-old to have eight convictions for 14 offences including failing to stop after an accident, careless driving, and two charges for drink driving.
Mitigating, Ian Ibrahim told the court that his client had intended to spend the night with his “on-off partner”, but had decided to drive home after a “highly emotionally charged argument”.
Mr Ibrahim said that the man panicked on seeing the blue lights and “foolishly” sped away and had driven “like an idiot”. He then asked the court to suspend any custodial sentence to allow the man to continue to run the home-improvement business he had started after working in hospitality for 20 years.
Recorder Ifan Wyn Lloyd Jones told the barrister that he would not be doing his duty if he imposed a sentence of anything other than immediate custody, however, saying it was “more by luck than anything else” that there had been no serious injuries or deaths as a result of his drink driving.
The man was jailed for 10 months, accounting for his early guilty plea, and banned from driving for three years and five months. He will need to pass an extended driving test before getting behind the wheel again.
About Carl Millar
Carl Millar is a highly respected and experienced drink driving solicitor who is the principal of Millars Solicitors.
Carl has been a specialist in road traffic law for many years and represents clients from all walks of life and all over the Country. He is well known for the dogged defending of his clients and robust cross examination of police officers and exert witnesses.
With a wealth of expertise in motoring law Carl is well placed to provide advice over the phone and deal with all road traffic matters in a calm and professional way.
Getting in contact with Carl and Millars Solicitors is really easy. You can call him FREE on 0800 999 5535, or click here to send a confidential message.
