A DRUNK-driver who was more than four times the legal limit while travelling terribly behind the wheel in and around Workington has been spared immediate prison.
Jake Benjamin Dixon, 29, was brought to justice after a good citizen in another vehicle was so concerned about his conduct behind the wheel, at around 9pm on December 15, that he decided to follow.
Dixon was initially seen driving “extremely slowly” in a blue Toyota Yaris on the A595 before eyewitness Sean Stroud watched him begin, in his words, to “absolutely fly”. Over the course of several minutes, Dixon’s vehicle repeatedly zig-zagged, mounted kerbs and drove on the wrong side of the road as Mr Stroud battled to keep up in a bid to take down the registration number.
He finally did so, alerted police and Dixon was apprehended by officers soon after.
“He was incoherent,” prosecutor Julian Goode said of Dixon at Carlisle Crown Court today (FRI), “slurring his words, eyes glazed and struggling to generally understand the questions posed to him.”
After failing a roadside test, Dixon was found to have 151mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, way above the 35mg limit. He later admitted both drink-driving and dangerous driving.
Recorder Richard Archer heard of Dixon’s alcohol difficulties but also learned he had the support of family members and his partner to reduce his intake, and read glowing character references from past and present work colleagues.
After considering mitigation, Recorder Archer suspended a six-month jail term for 18 months and imposed a rehabilitation activity requirement. Dixon, of St John’s Court, Hensingham, Whitehaven, was banned from driving for four years – having served a ban imposed in 2013 for a previous excess alcohol offence – and must complete an extended re-test.
“You were incapable of even speaking, let alone driving,” Recorder Archer said of the December crimes. “It was a relatively long and appalling piece of driving, made all the more serious by the fact you were so heavily intoxicated at the time.”