A chef who caused a crash when he attempted to drive a 14-mile journey home whilst intoxicated last summer has been sentenced.
26-year-old William Hedges left a pub in Little Somerford, near Malmesbury, shortly after midnight on 12 July and embarked on the trip to his house in Robinscroft, Blunsdon.
Appearing before magistrates in Swindon this morning, representing himself he pleaded guilty to the offence of drink driving.
The court heard how Hedges was driving his Volkswagen Passat in Bentham Lane, Purton, when he collided with a Volkswagen Transporter when failing to stop at a T-junction.
The Transporter was damaged to its front nearside. Both drivers stopped and spoke to each other at the scene. It became clear Hedges was intoxicated so the police were called. The ambulance service also attended.
He told officers he’d been following his sat-nav and wasn’t aware it was a T-junction. He claimed was unfamiliar with the road having never travelled it before.
After failing a roadside breath test, he was arrested and taken to Great Western Hospital as a precaution due to the airbags in his vehicle having being deployed.
A blood sample taken at the hospital confirmed he was more than two times over the drink-drive limit, with 161 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.
When interviewed at a later date, Hedges claimed he had intended to stay at a friend’s house after their visit to the pub, but a disagreement meant that was no longer possible. He then arranged to stay at a different friend’s house, but another disagreement saw that arrangement cancelled. He said, “in a moment of madness”, he decided to drive home. He accepted he should have called a taxi.
He told officers in the interview he’s been driving slow, it was dark, and he hadn’t realised he’d approached a T-junction.
Defending himself, Hedges, who has no previous convictions, told the bench: “I want to apologise, it was totally out of character.”
Magistrates imposed a 19-month driving disqualification, fined him £369 and ordered him to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £37.
