Hit-and-run drunk driver jailed for 3yrs
Man left smash victim for dead
A HIT-AND-RUN motorist who knocked down a rally driver and left him for dead was yesterday jailed for three years and nine months.
Steven Fraser, 36, suffered life-changing injuries in the smash on a night out after competing in the Snowman Rally last February.
He was knocked down in Inverness by joiner Andrei Sinzieanu, 26, who had drunk a bottle of whisky.
The Romanian fled in his Volkswagen and left Steven bleeding on the road with multiple fractures.
When police stopped the car on the A9, they found the driver was almost five times the legal alcohol limit.
Gamekeeper Steven, of Inverinate in Sutherland, needed emergency surgery and had to learn to walk again. The dad has not been able to return to work.
Sinzieanu admitted six charges – drunk driving, dangerous driving, being disqualified, having no insurance, causing serious injury and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
At sentencing, Inverness sheriff Gordon Fleetwood told Sinzieanu: “Your actions were unconscionable. Having consumed a large amount of alcohol, you drove dangerously and almost killed an innocent pedestrian.”
Defence solicitor advocate Mike Chapman said: “The way my client acted cannot be condoned but he is remorseful.”