'People like you wreck lives forever': Repeat Telford drink driver dressed down by judge for 'nonsense' excuse
“People like you are responsible for over 200 deaths a year, and the pain and suffering from that never ends”
A repeat drink driver has been banned from the road again after a judge tore apart his “absolute nonsense” justification for getting behind the wheel while more than twice the limit.
Michael Paul Williams was observed in a BMW in Spring Hill, Wellington, by police who saw him speeding and driving on the wrong side of the road on Friday, May 29, a court heard.
Officers attempted to pull him over but the 51-year-old “didn’t notice” their blue lights until he stopped to get fuel, a judge said.
He was breath tested at the petrol station and found to have 82 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath; the legal limit is 35mcg per 100ml. He was arrested and later charged with a single count of drink driving.
Williams pleaded guilty at Telford Magistrates Court on Wednesday (July 15) where District Judge Graham Wilkinson briefly described the events leading up to his arrest before asking the defendant, who represented himself in court, to explain why he got behind the wheel that night.
“I’ve got no answer for you,” Williams said, before beginning to say that he had been out playing darts and didn’t realise he was over the limit.
“That is nonsense, absolute nonsense,” the judge interrupted. “We have got the highest legal limit in the world. To get to 82 [micrograms] at the roadside, you are legless.”
The judge said Williams had previous convictions, for a similar offence in 1997 and for being in charge of a motor vehicle while over the limit in 2007.
“You knew you were drunk. This is the third time you have risked lives on the roads, so let’s have some honesty now. Why were you drink driving?”
Williams replied: “I play darts on a Friday. It’s the only time I get out, pretty much, because of my anxiety.”
The judge responded: “I have every sympathy for your anxiety but that ends the moment you put lives at risk.
“You clearly need help with your consequential thinking. Most people never make this mistake because of the number of advertising campaigns over the years.
“There is a small hardcore of repeat offenders. Over a [long] period you have now done it three times.
“People like you are responsible for over 200 deaths a year, and the pain and suffering from that never ends.
“You shouldn’t need a third conviction to realise how people like you wreck lives forever.”
He banned Williams from driving for three years and ordered him to pay a £100 fine, £85 court costs and £114 victim surcharge.
The judge also imposed a 12-month community order with a requirement that Williams, of Sutherland Close, Ketley, attend up to 18 rehabilitation activity requirement days.
“You are a high-risk, hardcore offender who poses a risk to innocent people on the roads of this country,” he told the defendant.
“If you are allowed to drive again, and the DVLA [Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency] may have a view on that, then you can absolutely guarantee yourself a prison sentence if you do this a fourth time.”