Drink driver four times over legal limit sentenced after mounting kerb in Hungerford
A woman with a pushchair had to jump out the way on Thursday evening
A drink driver who was swerving across all three lanes of the M4 near Hungerford has been banned from the roads for 34 months.
Richard Carlisle, 62, of Brook Street, Great Bedwyn pleaded guilty to one charge of driving while over the legal alcohol limit.
He was disqualified from driving for 34 months, given 16-week prison sentence suspended for two years, ordered to carry out unpaid work and have treatment for alcohol dependency.
What happened?
At around 6pm last Thursday (18th March) a member of the public driving on the westbound carriageway of the M4 between junctions 12 and 14 called the police after noticing Carlisle swerving across all three lanes of the carriageway.
He witnessed a number of near collisions, before following Carlisle off the motorway at junction 14 and into Hungerford, where he saw the car mount the kerb causing a woman with a pushchair to jump out of the way.
The member of the public followed the vehicle to Great Bedwyn, spoke to Carlisle when he parked at his home address, and then stayed there until officers arrived.
Carlisle was breathalysed and the reading was 130 micrograms, which is almost four times the legal drink drive limit.
PC Ben Cox, from Wiltshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit, said:
“This quick-thinking member of the public called police because they were concerned about the erratic manner of driving, and then followed the vehicle to ensure officers were able to detain Carlisle.
“It goes without saying that driving while over the legal limit is incredibly dangerous, but when someone is almost four times over the limit, the risk is extremely high and it was very lucky that Carlisle was not involved in a serious collision.
“We would always urge people to report suspicious driving to us, so we can take action and make our roads safer.”
If you are suspicious that some is regularly driving dangerously or under the influence of alcohol, then please call 101 and give as much information as possible, including the driver's details or description and their car registration.
If you believe that a crime is being committed and somebody is already behind the wheel then please call 999.