A banned drink driver who ploughed his work van through two back gardens and into a shed said he confused the accelerator for the brake. And now Matthew Ashenden has three months to prove to a judge he can start saving to pay damage compensation and stay out of trouble.
Ashenden conceded that he drank on New Year's Eve and into New Year's Day. Bristol Crown Court heard he was intoxicated at the time and it was "luck rather than judgement" that no-one was killed or seriously injured.
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.
