Drunken lorry driver jailed after 20 mile Police chase across Berkshire
Andrew Champion was five times over the legal drink-drive limit while driving a 44-tonne lorry
A Wiltshire police officer says it’s lucky nobody died as he described a 20 mile police pursuit of a 44-tonne lorry on the M4 as “terrifying”.
When 53-year-old Andrew Champion was stopped near Reading , his breath test reading was 174mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath - nearly fives over the legal limit of 35mg.
At around 10.45pm on Thursday 6 May, Champion was seen driving erratically on the eastbound stretch near to Swindon and when police first encountered him, his lorry was damaged and veering between lanes.
PC Jay Clifton from Wiltshire’s Road Policing Unit was the first on the scene and praised the actions of a Highways Maintenance Vehicle which had switched on its lights to warn other drivers.
“He was effectively creating rolling barrier on the motorway and slowing other members of the public down to stop them from passing and getting anywhere near the lorry. That person’s actions, I’ve no idea who it is to this day, probably saved lives”
During the pursuit, Champion ignored police signals to stop and came close to hitting a broken-down car on the hard shoulder.
“The lorry weaved from the second lane on to the hard shoulder, missing a recovery vehicle and the vehicle being recovered by a couple of feet. How he didn’t hit them, I don’t know. It was terrifying”
A stinger was deployed by officers from Thames Valley Police and when the lorry came to a halt, Champion was taken from the vehicle. Inside, officers found a half drunk bottle of whisky next to the driver’s seat.
Jailed
At Newport Crown Court, Champion, of Rhych Avenue, Porthcawl, was sentenced to fourteen months in prison and banned from driving for four years and seven months. He was also fined £156 and will have to take an extended retest when his driving ban ends.
Speaking after the sentencing, PC Clifton said:
“I’ve been on the roads policing unit for 17 years and I’ve never seen anything like that before.
“It’s not the damage he could do to himself which is going to happen, it’s the danger to other members of the public.
“Had he crossed the carriageway into oncoming vehicles, had he gone into the roadworks and hit a member of the maintenance crew - people could have died”