Drink-driver crashed due to ‘car wheel coming off ’

A drink-driver has said his car hit another on the A1(M) and then crashed into the central reservation because its wheel came off.

Andrzej Kepczyk's Vauxhall Insignia collided with a woman’s Vauxhall Astra as she travelled with her fivemonth-old nephew on the Washington stretch of the route on Saturday, June 20.

Now the bricklayer, of Pontop Street in East Rainton, has been banned from the roads for 22 months after admitting he was over the drink-drive limit, with a test showing he had 87 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – the legal limit is 35 micro

The collision happened on the A1(M) in Washington. Image Google Maps.

grammes.

John Garside, prosecuting at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court said the woman’s car was struck and the Insig

nia travelled passed at speed, collided with the central rese r vat io n a n d th e n ve e re d across all lanes before pulling up on the hard shoulder.

"Thankfully she maintained control of her vehicle and brought it to a stop behind the defendant’s Insignia," he said. "She remonstrated with the defendant about the speed he was going and belief that the defendant could have killed the baby in her car.

"The police were contacted and they have carried out a roadside breath test which proved positive.”

Kepczyk was taken to a police station for further checks when a roadside breath test proved positive and he told officers he had drank three beers two hours before the collision.

Ian Cassidy, mitigating, said the 52-year-old, who is married with grown-up children, had driven to a garage for repairs after an unexpected call, only to find it did not have the right kit to carry out the work.

The collision happened as he headed home.

Mr Cassidy explained: “He’s shown me some pictures of the vehicle and what he tells me is that is passenger side wheel came off as he was driving, and that’s the reason by he lost control of the vehicle. That afternoon he was at home with his son and had some beers, because he wasn’t intending to drive the vehicle at all.”

The bench ordered Kepczyk, helped through a Polish interpreter, to pay £85 costs, a victim surcharge of £45 and a fine of £475, offering him the chance to take the drinkdrive rehabilitation course to reduce his disqualification if completed.