Jail for driver who crashed BMW three times, then breached ban in Range Rover

A driver caught behind the wheel while banned for causing injuries and damage has been put behind bars.

Alan Wake was given a suspended prison sentence and disqualified from driving last June after he crashed a BMW three times during one episode of dangerous driving.

Newcastle Crown Court heard despite the ban, Wake was pulled over by the police while driving a Range Rover last November and refused to give a breath specimen.

Prosecutor Nicholas Lane said when Wake was stopped he was "unsteady on his feet and smelled strongly of alcohol" but did not properly comply with both roadside and mechanical breath tests.

Wake, 39, of Cheltenham Drive, Boldon, admitted failing to provide a specimen, driving while disqualified and breach of a suspended sentence order.

Judge Robert Adams today activated 12 months of the suspended prison term, followed by a further two months for the new offences, making a total of 14

months behind bars.

Wake, who has other driving convictions on his record, was given a three-year-and-one-month driving ban.

Judge Adams said he imposed the suspended jail term last June after Wake crashed a BMW into a transit van, which was shunted into a Corsa, then half an hour later he went into the back of a Toyota, which was shunted into a Ford Fiesta.

Wake then drove off but then crashed the BMW he was driving, into a lamppost.

Judge Adams said: "When I sentenced you I made it quite clear and said you richly deserved to go to prison but considered you were capable of rehabilitation.

"You now appear for further matters, committed during the currency of the suspended sentence.

"I think the public would rightly question what I was doing if I took the view I should be giving you another chance, given the seriousness of the previous matter.

"I would be failing in my public duty if I did not activate the suspended sentence.

"You were given a chance on the last occasion. It is with great regret we are back in this position."

Rachel Hedworth, defending, said Wake got in the car that night last November because he needed to transport medication to a child, who desperately needed it.

Miss Hedworth said Wake has family and business commitments and an immediate prison sentence could have a devastating impact on him and others.