DRUNK, UNINSURED AND DRIVING OVER THE SPEED LIMIT
.... THE CARNAGE LEFT BEHIND BY ONE ABERDARE MOTORIST:
AN UNINSURED drinkdriver who crashed headon into an oncoming car left an innocent motorist with a ruptured liver, damaged intestines, and a broken knee and jaw.
Liam Gareth Phillips was driving over the alcohol limit and over the speed limit when he smashed into the other car.
He was jailed at Swansea Crown Court last Thursday where prosecutors said he tried to blame his victim for the crash.
Phillips then skipped bail and failed to turn up for numerous appointments at police stations and courts and it was wasn’t until more than 18 months after the collision that officers were able to find and arrest him.
The court heard that on the evening of July 2, 2015, Phillips was drinking vodka and lager in a pub in Treherbert, Rhondda.
Tom Scapens, prosecuting, said that due to the amount the 29-yearold had drunk, the pub’s landlady advised him to leave the car and take a bus home – but he ignored her and got behind the wheel of his ex-partner’s BMW estate.
Some 20 minutes later he crashed head-on into a Toyota Yaris on the main Afan Valley road near Abergwynfi – after cutting a corner at not less than 53mph.
The court heard the speed limit on the road is 40mph. The barrister said Phillips initially told police who arrived on the scene that the other driver had “run him off the road” and was to blame for the smash.
A subsequent blood test on the defendant showed he had 123 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood – the legal limit is 80.
Phillips failed to answer his bail in the September of that year – claiming he had scabies – and there then followed months of attempts by police find him, with officers “having a number of difficulties locating him”.
The court heard an arrest warrant was later issued.
It wasn’t until June this year that he was detained – for possession of Class A drugs – and the warrant was executed.
Unemployed scaffolder Phillips, formerly of Trefelin, Trecynon, Aberdare, had previously pleaded guilty causing serious injury by dangerous driving and to driving without a licence or insurance when he appeared via videolink for sentencing.
He was described as “no stranger to the courts”.
The court heard his victim was a 24-year-old Afghan national who had come to the UK nine years ago, learned English at college and worked in a fast food restaurant in order to send money to his family back home.
He suffered a ruptured liver, intestinal injuries, a broken knee and a broken jaw in the smash and has been told he will never recover full mobility.
Vince Williams, for Phillips, said his client was remorseful for what he had done.
Judge Peter Heywood told Phillips he had a “catastrophic accident” by getting behind the wheel after drinking and had spent months “evading” his responsibilities.
For the dangerous driving offence, Phillips was sentenced to 22 months in prison, and for the bail offences to two months in prison.
Both sentences will run consecutively, making a total of 24 months.
He was also disqualified from driving for two years with the ban to run from the date of his release.