Sunderland drink driver caught after witness rang police while following him
A Sunderland dad who crashed while more than three times the drink-drive limit has been jailed after he was tailed by a witness.
Adam Burton, 40, was locked up for 33 weeks by a judge who told him he appeared to believe the laws of the road did not apply to him.
Jobless Burton smashed into a vehicle in Cleveland Road, while over the limit on July 16, South Tyneside Magistrates' Court heard.
He sped off but was filmed on a mobile phone by a relative of the victim who then followed and called police as he did.
Prosecutor Ruth Forster said Burton, of Portsmouth Road, Pennywell, became “cocky” after being arrested in Scruton Road, joking to police he had drunk vodka in their car.
Despite giving a sky-high breath test reading, he denied drink driving, insisting he had consumed most of his booze after exiting his vehicle.
But he changed his plea to guilty on the day of his trial, at which it was revealed he was subject to three court orders when he drove, including a suspended sentence for theft.
Mrs Forster said: “The witness tells that the defendant drove in his street and collided into the side of a vehicle belonging to his partner’s brother.
“He zoomed in on his phone and saw it drive off at speed. The witness got into his van and followed.
“He lost sight of it, but a member of the public gave him directions. It went into Ormonde Street, Cleveland Road and into Ettrick Grove, where it stopped for five seconds.
“The defendant then drove off into Shaftesbury Crescent and Durham Road and then into Scruton Avenue, before parking up.
“The witness saw a passenger and the defendant get out and walk towards his van. He then saw the defendant go into a store.
“He did not see him with alcohol. Police then arrived, and he was taken to the police station.
“The breath test procedure was straightforward, but he was slightly cocky to officers. He said he had drunk a bottle of vodka in the back of their vehicle.”
Burton gave a reading for alcohol in breath of 111mcg. The legal limit is 35mcg.
He has 28 previous convictions from 54 offences, including for drink driving in 2019.
Emily Baker Harrington, defending, said Burton had turned to alcohol to help him cope with an illness to his son.
She added: “His instructions are that he no longer disputes the evidence put by the crown.
“He says he did have some alcohol earlier and didn’t think it was still in his system but that he drank the majority after he drove the car.”
District Judge Zoe Passfield told Burton the rules of the road apply to protect the public from “people like you”.
She jailed him for 11 weeks for drink driving and activated the full 18 weeks of his suspended sentence to run consecutively.
The judge also revoked his community sentence for two thefts and jailed him for an additional four weeks.
Judge Passfield banned him from driving for three years and 11 weeks and ordered him to pay a £187 victim surcharge.