20-year-old Billy Richard Welch has been banned from driving after pleading guilty to crashing his Renualt Megane into the middle of Racecourse Roundabout whilst drunk.
Welch, of Barge Lane in Wootton, appeared before the Isle of Wight Magistrates Court on Tuesday charged with driving a motor vehicle when alcohol level about limit – namely 99 microgrammes of alcohol. The legal limit is 35.
As previously reported by Island Echo, a Renault Megane suffered extensive damage after crashing into trees on Racecourse Roundabout during the early hours of 22nd May this year.
Liz Miller, prosecuting, explained that Police were called to Lushington Hill at 02:23 when a car was witnessed to hit a traffic island and fly onto the central area of the roundabout. The driver, now known to be Billy Welsh, and his passenger simply walked off in the direction of Ryde.
Police attended the scene and Welsh was quickly located following an area search. He was breathalysed at Newport Police Station and found to be almost 3x the drink-drive limit.
Welch had only passed his driving test 8 months before the incident, which is said to have come about following the break-up of a 3-year relationship which led to him drinking too much.
Magistrates handed down a 23-month driving ban and ordered Billy to complete a 12-month community order with 80 hours of unpaid work. He must pay costs of £85 with a £95 surcharge.
Glad they got him in time. Normally they walk off then call police in the morning when sober and say sorry for leaving the car. No chance of a conviction.
Your not too smart are you Billy…….driving while under the influence is definitely not cool. You could have killed someone. If you don’t value your own life, you sure as hell should respect others. They would be the innocents. You just can’t teach stupid, it comes naturally to some!!!!!
Lucky! They could have died in that, the state of that vehicle when I saw it in the morning was unforgettable. Very lucky there was no fire.
I at first thought he’d been banned for life, which I’d think appropriate. There’s no incentive for him to give up drinking heavily in the 23 months, and then he’ll be driving again.