Drink-driver gets stuck trying to force way through roadblock

“He couldn’t get out. He was evidently drunk" - prosecution

A MOTORIST who had drunk nearly three times the legal limit got stuck trying to force his way through a roadblock.

Luke Jarlath Garrett, a freelance screenplay writer, decided to ignore the road closure in the early hours of the morning.

But he was so drunk he got his Mercedes SLK wedged between the kerb and a gravel lorry, Reading magistrates heard.

And there he stayed until police responded to reports of a road traffic accident and found him, still trapped.

Charlotte Abbott, prosecuting on Thursday, last, said: “Police received reports around 3.26am of a road traffic collision where it was thought the driver was possibly drunk.

“The road was blocked by roadworks and the defendant drove up on the pavement trying to squeeze through a gap.”

Forty-three-year-old Mr Garrett, of Mead Lane, Upper Basildon, then got his car well and truly wedged up against a gravel lorry, the court heard.

Ms Abbott said: “He couldn’t get out. He was evidently drunk.”

Police checks showed that Mr Garrett was also uninsured to drive the Mercedes and tests subsequently proved there were 90mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath in his system.

The legal limit is 35mcg.

Mr Garrett admitted driving after drinking more than the legal limit on Reading Road, Pangbourne, on May 31.

He further admitted driving without due care and attention and driving without insurance on the same occasion.

When interviewed by police he replied “no comment” to their questions, magistrates were told.

Rajah Azam, defending, pointed out that his client, a married father of two, has no previous convictions and added: “He is deeply ashamed and embarrassed. He has never been arrested before.”

The clerk to the court reminded magistrates that the offences were aggravated by the “unacceptable manner of driving”.

After retiring to confer with colleagues, presiding magistrate Nicola Buchanan-Dunlop told Mr Garrett: “We’ve considered this quite carefully because of the very high alcohol reading. The circumstances aren’t brilliant either.

“But we take into account your early guilty plea and the fact that you are of previous good character and feel we can deal with this by way of a financial penalty.”

Magistrates fined Mr Garrett £1,125.

In addition he was ordered to pay £85 costs plus a statutory victim services surcharge of £75.

Finally, Mr Garrett was banned from driving for two years.

IMDb lists Mr Garrett as an actor and writer, best known for The Ice House (1997) and Into Thin Air: Death on Everest (1997).