A banned drink driver who crashed into neighbours' gardens was given a chance to save up compensation and prove he could stay out of trouble. But instead he went out and burgled a flat.
In March, Bristol Crown Court heard Matthew Ashenden ploughed his work van through two back gardens and into a shed and claimed he confused the accelerator for the brake. He conceded he drank on New Year's Eve and into New Year's Day and was intoxicated at the time and had breached a suspended sentence.
Ashenden, 39, of Bourneville Road in Weston-super-Mare, pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified, driving with excess alcohol and without insurance on January 1 this year. But, after a judge gave him three months to start saving for compensation and stop offending, in May he admitted burgling a student flat in Bristol.
