A Highworth drink driver crashed into a van when he ‘took his eyes off the road’.
Liam Bailey, 21, pleaded guilty to driving a motor vehicle whilst over the prescribed alcohol limit at Swindon Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (5 January).
The trainee plumber, of The Elms, ploughed into a parked van after drinking at a pub nearby and offering a lift home to a female friend in his Volkswagen Polo.
Police were called to the scene in Swindon Street, Highworth, in the early hours of 27 November last year following reports of the road traffic collision.
Bailey remained at the location and fully cooperated with the officers, prosecutor Tom Power told the court. He also confirmed the defendant has no previous convictions.
In custody, he provided an evidential breath test result of 61 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 milliliters of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.
The airbags in his Polo were deployed and it was written off as a result.
Defending, Gordon Hotson, said his client had been in the pub with his friends and gone off with one “lady friend”. They parked up for a period of time and Bailey is claimed to believe the level of alcohol in his system would have dropped below the legal driving limit.
“He took his eyes of the road for a second and collided with the rear offside of a parked van”, the duty solicitor said.
Adding: “He is in the third year of a plumbing apprenticeship and has been getting lifts too and from work.
“He comes to the end of his apprenticeship in 12 months time, and he will be required to drive to jobs. If he were to be banned at that time, his job would be in jeopardy.
“He tells me his feels he has left himself down, his family and his community and should have known better.”
Mr Hotson asked District Judge Joanna Dickens to impose a driving ban as close to 12 months as possible so that Bailey does not risk losing his job.
She sentenced him to a 16-month driving disqualification with the option to complete a drink-drive rehabilitation course, which would bring the roads ban down to 12 months.
