A CARLISLE man has been jailed for drink-driving while subject to a suspended prison sentence he was given for a burglary.
Wayne Andrew McDonald, 25, appeared at the city’s crown court earlier this year having broken into a Corby Hill petrol station with others, and snatched cigarettes, alcohol and scratch cards. A 12-month jail term was suspended for two years by a judge for that February crime.
But on the late morning September 15, having earlier consumed an “enormous” amount of alcohol, including a bottle of wine, McDonald got behind the wheel of a Vauxhall Astra. He ploughed through a garden wall at Hopes Hill Drive, leaving his vehicle buried in a man’s garden and causing £1,000 damage.
McDonald, of Burnett Road, Carlisle, tried to flee but was eventually detained, later telling police he ran because he was “wasted”. He failed a breath test and, 90 minutes after the incident, was still more than twice the legal drink-drive limit.
He admitted an excess alcohol charge – and a breach of the suspended sentence – and was jailed for six months at the crown court today (FRI). “The purpose of a suspended sentence is to make sure you lead a law-abiding life,” said Judge Peter Davies. “You have singularly failed to do that.”