Range Rover driven over BMW by Long Buckby drink-driver

A man who drank five cans of beer before driving his Range Rover over another vehicle and crashing into a wall has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Philip Weston, 51, from East Street, in Long Buckby, was arrested during Northamptonshire Police's winter drink-drive campaign.

He was three times over the drink drive limit when police checked his breath.

He has been banned from driving for two-and-a-half years.

Weston was arrested at 22:45 GMT on 6 December 2023 after reports of a road traffic collision.

Northamptonshire Police said he told officers he had lost control of his vehicle as he went round a corner.

The car had skidded and travelled over a white BMW M2 series car and, rather than stopping, Weston had tried to drive off.

Police said he then hit a pink Fiat before his vehicle became embedded in a wall.

At the scene, Weston told officers that he had drunk five standard-sized cans of Stella Artois beer during the evening and had been driving home after visiting a relative in the Kingsthorpe area of Northampton.

He was arrested and provided a breath sample which showed he was over three-and-a-half times the legal drink-drive limit.

He pleaded guilty at Northampton Magistrates' Court to driving a motor vehicle while over the prescribed limit of alcohol.

He returned to the same court to be sentenced on 1 February, when he was given a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for a year, and disqualified from driving for two-and-a-half years.

He will have to complete a rehabilitation activity and a 120-day alcohol abstinence requirement.

PC Michael Hollowell of the Northamptonshire Police Roads Policing Team said: "Getting behind the wheel more than three times over the limit is not just selfish, but dangerous and reckless and Weston is fortunate that his actions didn't kill or seriously injure someone."

Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and X. Got a story? Email [email protected] or WhatsApp 0800 169 1830.