Drunken milkman’s £40k trail of havoc
A DRUNKEN milkman crashed into a couple’s Mercedes on their driveway, shunting it into the front of their home.
Adam Martin is said to have caused £40,000 damage in the incident, which happened at 8.10am on a saturday last month.
He had to be carried from the scene after his Ford Transit milk truck veered on to the driveway of Jo and Declan sunderland’s home.
Mrs sunderland, 50, pictured, said: ‘There was this bang – it sounded like an explosion. I went outside and there was this man opening the door of his truck. He was saying he was sorry.
‘He was staggering, so I called an ambulance. If it had been a weekday, not a saturday, there would have been children crossing my driveway every few minutes on their way to school. The outcome would have been very different.’
Martin, who was working for Muller Milk and More, admitted drink-driving in the incident in Curdworth, Warwickshire, on January 21.
Leamington spa magistrates banned him from driving for 42 months, imposed a 12-month community order, ordered him to carry out 100 hours’ unpaid work and told him to pay £170 in costs.
Mrs sunderland said the impact of the crash, which occurred while her husband was using the bathroom, pushed her red Mercedes 10ft into the corner of the house.
‘My car was a complete write-off and it took five hours before the police structural engineer would allow the fire service to move the vehicles,’ she said. ‘The damage to my house is really serious. The crash has taken out one of the structural corners. The front corner will have to be taken down and rebuilt. This has caused cracking in every room of the property. The house is still creaking. It will cost tens of thousands to put right.’
Tests are to be carried out to see if the house’s foundations have been damaged.
Muller, who employed Martin at their Garretts Green depot in Yardley, said: ‘Following the incident we quickly carried out a thorough and comprehensive internal investigation. The employee in question was found to have breached his terms of employment and was subsequently dismissed.
‘We have offered our sincerest apologies to the couple affected and compensation is being dealt with through our respective insurers.’