Drink driver caught after crashing off road in north Northumberland
A drink driver was caught when he suffered a tyre blow out and crashed through a hedge, magistrates heard.
Ozainke Peters pleaded guilty to a drink driving charge when he appeared at Berwick Magistrates’ Court.
Magistrates heard the defendant, an event organiser, crashed near Beal Farm on September 5 when the Lindisfarne Festival was taking place.
James Long, prosecuting, said: “PC Thompson attended a report of a single vehicle RTC on the road between Beal and Holy Island. The vehicle had come off the road and disappeared through a hedge and gone down an embankment.
"The officer spoke to the defendant who said he thought he had an under-inflated tyre which had burst and he lost control.”
Magistrates heard the 39-year-old from Shotley Bridge failed a roadside breath test and was taken to Middle Engine Lane police station in Wallsend where he provided a positive breath test of 51mg alc/100ml breath. The legal limit is 35mg.
In defence, the court heard the defendant had been working at a different event and had some food and alcohol at the end of a long day.
"He was requested to attend a different event and, in hindsight, realises he should not have,” Graham Crouth told the court. “He was travelling there when his tyre burst. It was the blow out of the tyre which caused him to lose control.”
Magistrates acknowledged there was no evidence of bad driving.
He was given a 12 month driving disqualification and ordered to pay a fine and costs totalling £551.