A disqualified driver crashed twice in the space of two months, both times while over the alcohol limit. Roofer Brian Richards flipped his car on Boxing Day then, a matter of weeks later, slammed his van into a tree after crashing over a roundabout.
The 49-year-old has a history of driving while banned, and a judge asked how the courts could deter those who persistently take to the roads in breach of the will of the courts when the maximum sentence that be imposed after a guilty plea was four months.
Megan Jones, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that the first crash happened on December 26 last year when Richards lost control of his Renault Clio on Afan Way in Port Talbot - the vehicle rolled over and ended up on its roof, with the defendant and his female passenger trapped inside. The pair had to be cut free by firefighters, and the court heard the female suffered internal injuries and has been left with suspected post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the crash. Checks showed the driver was disqualified, and he was subsequently found to have 104 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, the legal limit being 80 milligrammes.
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The second crash happened almost exactly two months later on the on the outskirts of Neath. Miss Jones said that at 11.40pm on February 27 an off-duty police officer saw a Ford Transit van approach the A465 roundabout "at speed". The van didn't slow down but instead drove straight over the roundabout and into a tree. Richards walked away from the van and the off-duty officer saw he was unsteady on his feet. Police were soon on the scene, and the 49-year-old defendant was located nearby. A subsequent breath test showed he was two-and-a-half times over the drink-drive limit.
Brian Wayne Richards, of Herbert Road, Melin, Neath, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of driving with excess alcohol, two counts of disqualified driving, two counts of driving without insurance, and to dangerous driving and having no valid MoT - both these latter offences relating to the roundabout crash. He has nine previous convictions for 19 offences including driving with excess alcohol, dangerous driving, and driving while disqualified.
Andrew Evans, for Richards, said while being held on remand the defendant had had chance to reflect on his life, and had been directed towards organisations which helped those with alcohol issues. He said his client ran a roofing company, and had found someone who could take over the running of the business in his absence.
Judge Geraint Walters told Richards it was a miracle that nobody had been seriously injured in the Boxing Day crash, and he said that the reality of the situation was that the defendant needed to sort out his underlying difficulties with alcohol.
The judge said people may be surprised to learn that the maximum sentence for the offences of drink-driving and of driving while disqualified - even for repeat offenders - is six months custody, and that is before any discount for guilty pleas. He said he asked himself the rhetorical question of how to deter people who persistently take to the road in defiance of court orders where the maximum sentence they faced after a full discount for a guilty plea was one of four months in prison. The judge said people may also be surprised that the maximum sentence for dangerous driving is two years.
With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas Richardson was sentenced to 18 months in prison comprising a total of four months for the Boxing Day offending and a total of 14 months for the February offending, the sentences to run consecutively. The defendant will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. He was disqualified from driving for four years, and ban increased by another nine months to account for the length of time the defendant will be behind bars. Richards must pass an extended driving test before he can get his licence back.
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