Drink-driving case hero up for award

David Rushby said he was "very pleased" to have been put forward for a High Sheriff's Award by Judge Simon Tonking, who this week imposed a suspended prison sentence on the woman, Marie Keane.

Mr Rushby, from Market Drayton, spotted Keane driving erratically in the town on September 1 this year and decided to pull her over after she mounted the pavement and nearly struck two pedestrians.

He said she had pulled out in front of him, causing him to brake hard, and her car had been swerving.

He sounded his alarm to grab an elderly couple's attention and get them to move out of the way and flashed his lights to get Keane to pull over.

"She was begging me not to call the police," he said.

"And it was a bit of an awkward situation. I took the keys off her and went from there really."

Mr Rushby, an HGV driver, said he thought the right thing to do was to call the police.

"I think she wouldn't have made it far outside Market Drayton because of how drunk she was," he said.

"I wouldn't have known what I would have done if I had found out she had crashed her car into someone or she had taken somebody else's life or injured them."

At Shrewsbury Crown Court this week, Judge Tonking imposed the sentence on Keane, 27, from Wistaston, near Crewe, and praised the actions of Mr Rushby.

He said: "Mr Rushby potentially saved not just Miss Keane but members of the public from very, very serious danger.

"She could have killed somebody driving like that and he acted very responsibly." He added: "He deserves the grateful thanks of the defendant and the community."

Anna Turner, the High Sheriff of Shropshire, said she would consider Mr Rushby for an award.

By Deborah Collins