Shrewsbury drink driver the scene of crash
A drink driver who crashed in his works van, fled the scene, leaving his passenger trapped inside.
Paul Dowler, 42, said he did not know his passenger was injured when he left.
Dowler, of Whitchurch Road in Shrewsbury, admitted driving with 114 microgrammes of alcohol in his breath, compared to the legal limit of 35, and failing to stop after an accident on the A525 at Coedpoeth, near Wrexham, on August 22.
He received an 18 week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and was placed on rehabilitation to help him deal with stressful situations.
Dowler was banned from driving for 26 months at North East Wales Magistrates’ Court at Mold, ordered to carry out 160 hours unpaid work, and pay £85 costs and a £115 surcharge.
Rhian Jackson, prosecuting, said the transit van veered in the road and struck an on-coming vehicle.
The defendant left the scene and was arrested a short while later.
Firefighters had to release passenger, Michael Hughes, from the van. He had suffered an injury to his collar bone.
Defending solicitor Chirstie Ankers-Phillips said that her client was driving a works van.
He maintained that he was not aware that any injury had been caused to anyone when he left the scene.
The defendant had been drinking a little more than usual to cope with his father’s ill-health.
Dowler was a hard working man employed as a groundsman. He would lose his job as a result of the disqualification.
A probation officer said that the defendant said he had drunk eight cans that day and believed that he had checked on the others before leaving the scene.
District Judge Gwyn Jones said that there were a number of aggravating features and immediate custody would be more than justified.
He had been drinking and was driving on a busy stretch of road at a time when people were making their way home from school and work.
His good work record and the other factors persuaded him that a suspended sentence was appropriate.
