Telford drink-driver found trapped in upturned car is banned
A man found trapped inside his overturned car while three times over the drink-drive limit has been banned from the road for 48 months.
Simon John Wilkins, 22, of of Rembrandt Drive, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol at Telford Magistrates Court yesterday.
The court heard police pulled him from the upturned blue Seat Leon on Wellington Road, Admaston, at about 4.30am on June 22.
It was the second time in three years that Wilkins, of Shawbirch, had been prosecuted for a drink-driving offence, magistrates were told.
And they warned him he had narrowly escaped a custodial sentence as the crash and his previous offence were aggravating features of the crime.
Wilkins, was told he must complete 250 hours of unpaid work before he starts a job at a ski resort in the Alps in October.
If he fails to undertake his punishment in full, a warrant will be issued for his arrest, he was told.
Mrs Abigail Hall, prosecuting, told the court police were called to a car on its roof on Wellington Road, Admaston, at 4.30am on June 22.
She said: "The driver of the vehicle was trapped inside and officers assisted him in getting out of the vehicle.
"They could smell alcohol on his breath and conducted a road side breath test to which he scored 94.
"He was arrested and taken to Malinsgate Police Station where he was breathalysed a second time and scored 95."
The legal limit is 35 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.
A report on Wilkins was drawn up by probation who found him to be an "intelligent" graduate of physics and sport who had a job at a ski resort lined up for October.
He told officers he was out in Wellington on the night in question when he was was assaulted.
He said he suffered from anxiety and depression for which he takes medication.
He drank to calm his nerves after the attack and felt the alcohol could have reacted with his tablets.
Sentencing Wilkins to a 48-month ban plus 250 hours unpaid work, chairman of magistrates Mrs Sue Tyrrell said: "This could have been a custodial sentence.
"You need to complete your unpaid work before you leave the country or there will be a warrant issued for your arrest."
Wilkins must also pay £85 in court costs and a £60 victim surcharge.
