The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Drink-driver took off into oncoming traffic after causing collision
Man, 52, warned he could face jail after crash on dual carriageway
A hit-and-run drink-driver smashed into a car that had two young children inside.
Andrew Gentleman faces jail for causing the crash which left four people in hospital and then fleeing the wrong way down the A90 dual carriageway.
The 52-year-old tyre-fitter pulled out in his Citroen Berlingo van from a central reservation near Forfar and straight into the path of a Ford Fiesta driven by teenager Chloe Louden.
Gentleman, who was at least four times over the limit, then drove off the wrong way down the busy carriageway.
Two children, aged five and three, and Miss Louden’s mother were in the car. All were rushed to Ninewells Hospital.
Miss Louden, 19, was left with a 1.5-inch cut to her right knee as well as bruising to her left arm and both legs.
Chloe’s mother Louise, 38, who was in the front passenger seat, was permanently disfigured as a result of the crash, the court heard.
She suffered a dislocated bone fracture on the pelvis and injuries to her sternum, wrist and a wound to her abdomen.
Louise Louden has been left with scarring to her hip and still experiences back pain. The two children were not seriously injured.
The van was later found at Lochlands Caravan Park, having been ditched by Gentleman.
He was found nearby by police following a search and was taken to Ninewells Hospital.
He admitted drinking earlier that day and gave a breath test at 5.46pm – almost four hours after the collision – and was found to have 92 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 22 microgrammes.
Gentleman, of Haugh Street, Falkirk, appeared at Dundee Sheriff Court using crutches but the court heard this was not as a result of road collision, but rather from “jumping over some walls”.
He pled guilty to driving dangerously and with excess alcohol on the A90 in Angus on July 27 last year.
He already has two prior drink -drive convictions.
Sheriff Lorna Drummond adjourned the case for reports ahead of sentencing on August 18, but warned Gentleman that custody was “at the forefront” of her mind while granting him bail.