Truck driver drunk on whisky drove wrong way down road

A BIRMINGHAM lorry driver drove a 12-tonne truck down the A38 while more than twice the legal alcohol limit.

Everton Wright had drunk whisky to get to sleep in his cab after reaching his journey’s end in Barton under Needwood, near Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire.

But bizarrely, when he woke up later that night, he decided to start driving again for no apparent reason and headed onto the dual carriageway.

He repeatedly hit the central reservation, knocked over cones laid out by workmen, smashed into traffic lights and went around a roundabout four times. Wright could offer no explanation for his decision to restart his lorry.

His counsel told Derby Crown Court the 67-year-old would never get behind the wheel again.

Wright was first seen to drive through a red temporary traffic light and hit the lights at the other end.

He was seen swerving across both lanes of the A38 and hitting the central reservation around 10 times.

He also hit cones that were out for roadworks. The workmen were not on the site at the time.

The safety officer said he had never witnessed someone driving that badly in 23 years of service.

The police caught up with him on the A516 in Mickleover and followed him. A stinger was used to bring him to a stop.

A bottle of whisky that was 35 per cent full was found in the cab and he was found to have 85 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

When he was interviewed, Wright said he could not remember much of the driving and he was at his destination when he started his journey.

He had parked up for some food and sleep and for no reason decided to drive the lorry again after waking up. He was not driving fast and the offence happened at 11.30pm, so not many vehicles were on the road at the time.

Justin Ablott, defending, said: “Mr Wright is aware of how serious matters are.

“It’s right to say that Mr Wright has spent the last year reflecting on how lucky he is that he’s not before the court for more serious matters.”

Wright, of Kentish Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, had admitted dangerous driving and drink-driving at the A516 Hilton junction with the A50 on August 24, 2020, at a previous court hearing before he was sentenced last week. Judge Shaun Smith QC said: “In order to get yourself off to sleep, you decided you were going to down some whisky.

“You decided in the late hours you would turn that lorry on and would drive it when you were in no fit state to drive it.”

Judge Smith said: “By and large you’re a good man who did something very stupid.”

He sentenced Wright to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, and 200 hours of unpaid work.

He was also disqualified from driving for four years.