A drink-driver whose car crashed into a parked vehicle then knocked over the owner’s son has been spared jail.
Craig Whitley, 48, was more than twice the legal alcohol limit when he drove his Ford Mondeo along a country lane on the edge of Copmanthorpe and ploughed into a red Peugeot parked in the street, York Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Kelly Clarke said that at about 11.30pm on 28 September last year, the vehicle’s owner was inside his home in Moor Lane when he heard a “loud crash” outside his property.
“He went outside and saw a dark Ford Mondeo that had crashed into his car,” added Ms Clarke.
“The victim noticed his car had been moved about ten metres from where he had parked it. He saw the black car driving off with parts of the Peugeot’s bodywork scraping on the road.
“Whiteley was driving away from the scene towards the dead end of that lane into open countryside.”
The victim’s son, who was also named in court, chased after the Mondeo while his father called police. As he did so, Whiteley drove the vehicle onto agricultural fields before reversing into a driveway and turning back onto Main Street.
At one stage during the terrifying scenes, the victim’s son punched and smashed the glass of the fleeing vehicle, suffering hand injuries by doing so.
He continued to chase the vehicle to try to get it to stop, but to no avail. As the car came towards him, he jumped out of the way but was clipped by the Mondeo, causing him to fall backwards to the ground, suffering grazes to his arms and legs. Whiteley drove off.
The victims took note of the vehicle’s registration mark and passed it on to police who spotted the vehicle being driven along Tadcaster Road towards York with “extensive” front-end damage and only one working front light.
Officers switched on the blue lights but instead of stopping, Whiteley turned onto Albemarle Road in South Bank where the pursuing officers pulled alongside the vehicle and flagged it down. Whiteley finally pulled over and was removed from the vehicle by officers who noticed he smelled strongly of alcohol.
Whiteley, from York, was said to be “very quiet, subdued and compliant” after being pulled out of the vehicle. When told that he was being arrested on suspicion of causing an accident, he replied: “What accident?”
A drink-drive test revealed he had 80mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mcg.
Moor Lane, Copmanthorpe
He was brought in for questioning and told police that his last recollection of that Saturday evening, before being pulled over by police, was being in The Angel pub on Bishopthorpe Road.
“He said he had been suffering recently with his mental health and had turned to alcohol as a means of coping,” added Ms Clarke.
Whiteley was charged with dangerous driving and driving while over the prescribed alcohol limit. He admitted both offences and appeared for sentence today – his 48th birthday.
Ms Clarke said that Whiteley was “highly impaired” through drink at the time of the incident.
‘Extremely courageous’
Defence barrister Laura Addy was spared the need for mitigation after Recorder Peter Makepeace KC said he had decided to take the “exceptional” course of sparing Whitley an immediate jail sentence due to the “strong” mitigation.
He commended the vehicle-owner’s son for his “extremely courageous act” in trying to stop the fleeing Mondeo and told Whiteley: “You will never know how lucky you are that he was not more seriously injured. There have been high-profile cases recently where people have been killed for doing such a thing.”
The judge said he wasn’t “entirely convinced” about Whiteley’s claim that he couldn’t remember the collisions, although he accepted the defendant’s assertion that he “would not deliberately drive towards anybody”.
He said that on the day in question, Whiteley had “total disregard for the safety of others”, but he was otherwise of “positive good character”, had an “exemplary work record” and had led a hitherto “pro-social, constructive” life.
The judge also noted the “stresses, strains” and health issues Whiteley had at the time and how he was sole carer for close family members.
He said he was satisfied that “these factors combined to cause this offending” and that Whiteley was “genuinely horrified by what you did”.
Whiteley was given a 10-month prison sentence, but this was suspended for two years. He received a two-year driving ban.
He was ordered to pay the owner of the damaged vehicle £500 compensation and £1,000 to his “courageous” son, along with £150 prosecution costs.