Four hurt as drunk driver causes head-on crash

A drunk driver on the wrong side of the road smashed his SUV into a car coming in the opposite direction, hurting the four people inside the other vehicle. Geoff Warren, 39, had been binge drinking at home on Sunday, September 17, and decided to get behind the wheel of his Vauxhall Grandland to drive from his home in the Market Harborough ^[1] area to Leicester.

But he only got as far as Harborough Road on the outskirts of the town when, at about 10pm, he crashed into another car while driving on the wrong side of the road. A man driving a BMW with three passengers coming into the town saw Warren coming at him but was unable to avoid a collision, Leicester Magistrates' Court ^[2] heard on Wednesday, October 4.

As he swerved in an attempt to avoid Warren's Vauxhall, the cars collided head-on, setting off the airbags in the BMW. Two passengers in the BMW had to be taken to hospital due to the severity of their injuries. The driver suffered bruising and the fourth person in the vehicle suffered some pain, the court heard.

Warren, who was seen staggering around after getting out of his car, tried to flee the scene but a member of the public grabbed him and he was detained until Leicestershire Police ^[4] arrived. A roadside breath test showed a reading of 104 microgrammes of alcohol per 100ml of breath - the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

He was treated by ambulance staff and after he was arrested and taken to a police station he gave an official breathalyser reading of 78 microgrammes - but that was four hours after the collision. He was also interviewed at the police station after he had sobered up but he said he could not remember what had happened.

The court heard it was the third time Warren had pleaded guilty to drink driving. His previous convictions for the offence were in 2013 and 2015.

Kate Nield, representing Warren, told the court: "He fully accepts the error of his ways. Since the last offence [in 2015] he has met his partner, they had a son together but the last six months has seen the relationship fall apart.

"They are still living under the same roof for the benefit of the child but that's causing problems. When Mr Warren is struggling with stress and his mental health issues he drinks.

"He makes no attempts to excuse himself for what happened on that date." The court heard that Warren, who lives in Isaac Martin Lane, Great Bowden, near Market Harborough, and works in London, had been getting help for his alcoholism since the crash.

District Judge Jonathan Straw said the case was "hugely aggravated" by the fact there was a collision and that it caused injuries. He told Warren: "The sole person responsible for these two cars coming together was you.

"That roadside reading is a really good clue as to how much you drank. This is an extremely serious case of its type and it's not the first time you've been before the court for drink driving."

Warren was fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £85 court costs and a £400 victim surcharge. He was banned from driving for 40 months.

References

^{^} Market Harborough (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
^{^} Leicester Magistrates' Court (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
^{^} Van driver had used cannabis before fatal crash with motorbike (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)
^{^} Leicestershire Police (www.leicestermercury.co.uk)