Drink-driver embedded car on railings and demolished lights
A Sunderland drink-driver crashed and embedded his car on railings after agreeing to give his friend a lift home.
Mark Hogarth, 36, also demolished traffic lights when he lost control of his Audi A5 on Washington Road, Hylton Castle, on Sunday, October 3.
Hogarth, of Burnbank, Southwick, failed a roadside breath test and he and his friend had to be taken to hospital for medical checks.
Magistrates in South Tyneside heard it was there he also gave an evidential positive blood sample for alcohol which showed he was one-and-a-half times the limit.
Prosecutor Emma O’Hegarty said: “An officer was on mobile patrol when he had cause to attend a road traffic accident at 1.15am.
“He noted that a black Audi was embedded over railings and had demolished traffic lights at a junction.
“He spoke to two males who were at the scene, but he wasn’t aware which of them was the driver.
“The officer asked for a sample of breath from both men, and the defendant then admitted that he was the driver.
“The defendant failed a roadside breath test and both men were transferred to hospital, where the defendant also gave a blood sample.
“The aggravating factors are that he was involved in an accident and was carrying a
passenger at the time.”
Hogarth’s sample showed 132mcg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80mcg.
He pleaded guilty to drink-driving, driving without insurance and driving without a licence.
Joanne Gatens, defending, said: “He says that he didn’t realise how over the limit he was.
“He was asked to drive by his friend who was more drunk than he was. He described something going wrong with the vehicle.
"The vehicle was a write off as a result of the incident.
“Fortunately, there were no injuries to him or his friend when they were checked out in hospital.”
Magistrates banned jobless Hogarth from driving for 16 months, and fined him £140, with £85 court costs and a £34 victim surcharge.
They offered him the chance to sit a drink-driver rehabilitation course, successful completion of which reduces a ban by a quarter.