An intoxicated West Cumbria man who stole alcohol after leaving two young children alone in a badly damaged van which he had earlier taken without permission has been given a 20-month jail term.
The man, aged in his 30s, took both a driving licence and van belonging to another male without his consent on March 18.
Despite having only a provisional driving licence, being banned from the road and holding no insurance, the man put his partner’s two young girls in the van and drove away.
During a journey of around three miles, the vehicle sustained significant damage which caused the shredding of a tyre and also then a plastic wheel arch.
The man drove to Workington’s Tesco store but, as he went inside, a concerned member of the public contacted police to report children being left alone in the van.
As officers attended, the man — who can’t be named to protect the girls’ identity — was inside Tesco filling a trolley with three cases of lager, one of cider, and a bunch of flowers. He appeared drunk, was slurring his words and stumbling, and left the store without paying.
A police officer found the girls inside the van standing on seats.
“It was plain to the officer that the children had been in the front of the vehicle, which was clearly in a dangerous condition with no suitable child restraints or child seats for the pair,” prosecutor Tim Evans told Carlisle Crown Court, “and that the van was unlocked so that at any point the children could have left and gone wandering unsupervised.”
The man provided a positive preliminary alcohol breath test. A drug wipe also indicated the presence of cocaine and cannabis and the man struggled as attempts were made to handcuff him.
He later admitted offences including driving while disqualified, theft, child cruelty, aggravated vehicle taking, resisting a police constable and failing to provide a breath specimen.
Judge Nicholas Barker accepted remorse contained within a letter in which the man had also expressed a wish to mend his ways.
But, passing an Immediate prison sentence, Judge Barker said the man had absolutely and deliberately disregarded the children’s safety.
He must serve a three-year driving ban when released from custody.
