Drunk-driver given suspended jail sentence after M4 crash near Reading
Romeo Zingwe was nearly three times over the legal limit and already banned from driving when he crashed into the back of a lorry
A man from Reading has been sentenced for driving offences on the M4 in Berkshire.
Romeo Zingwe, aged 25, of Fairwater Drive, Woodley, was sentenced to a year and one month in prison, suspended for a year and a half, at Reading Magistrates’ Court.
The magistrates also disqualified him from driving for three years, gave him an abstinence order and ordered him to pay £272.
Zingwe pleaded guilty to one count each of driving a motor vehicle dangerously, driving a motor vehicle when alcohol level above limit, driving while disqualified, using a motor vehicle on a road/public place without third party insurance, failing to give information relating to the identification of the driver/rider of a vehicle when required and two counts of using a motor vehicle/trailer with a tyre with any of the ply/cord exposed.
At around 3.40pm on 20 June last year, Zingwe was driving a white Mercedes A Class that hit the back of a HGV at excess speed on the westbound carriageway between junctions 8/9 and 10.
He provided a positive roadside breath test for officers and their checks confirmed he had been disqualified from driving since 9 June 2022 for a previous drink-driving offence, and he had no insurance.
On 20 June, Zingwe was found to have 307 milligrammes of alcohol in his urine – the legal limit is 107 milligrammes.
He also failed to nominate the driver at the time of the collision and his Mercedes had two front tyres with exposed cords.
No one was injured.
Zingwe was charged by postal requisition on 15 December last year.
Investigating officer PC Greg Jones, of the Joint Operations Roads Policing Unit, based at Taplow police station, said:
“Romeo Zingwe was extremely fortunate his behaviour did not lead to a more serious incident.
“He was nearly three times over the alcohol limit to drive having only been disqualified from driving 11 days earlier, as well as using a car with two tyres with the cords exposed.
“Thames Valley Police will robustly target offenders who drive dangerously and while over the alcohol limit or disqualified in order to keep the public safe on the roads.
“Those people who commit these offences will be put before the courts and brought to justice.”