A Carlisle man has appeared in court for the first time after he crashed into another car while over the drink-drive limit and the fled the scene in panic.
Police attended the city’s Greta Avenue at around 7pm on December 30 after a two-vehicle crash. It was reported that Daniel Scott’s Lexus IS had crashed into a car with a female driver and then failed to stop in the aftermath.
That Lexus was located by officers outside an address to which it was registered and insured by Scott. There was front end damage to it.
Prosecutor George Shelley told Carlisle Magistrates’ Court that 31-year-old Scott presented himself as the driver, telling police he’d panicked after the crash and driven home.
He failed a breath test and an evidential sample showed 53 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mcg.
The other driver described an injury had caused stabbing pain to her back over a period of time.
In court Scott, of Ullswater Road, Carlisle, admitted drink-driving and failing to stop after a road accident. He had no previou hs convictions to his name.
Giving mitigation, defence solicitor Lauren Heasley told the district judge, John Temperley: “Mr Scott is thoroughly ashamed to be before you today.”
He was returning from a shop when the incident occurred, was in a terrible state afterwards and had actually been planning to alert police when they arrived at his house.
Had the woman driver and her husband been in court, Scott would apologise for what has happened, said Miss Heasley. “He is deeply sorry.”
District Judge Temperley imposed a community order comprising an eight-week electronically monitored night time curfew.
He was banned from driving for 16 months but was offered a rehabilitation course which, if completed within a specified time period, would reduce his disqualification by 16 weeks.
