This is the shocking moment a drunk van driver crashed into a car and careered off a motorway before landing on an adjacent dual carriageway in front of an oncoming car.
Steven Rees would later tell police he thought his level of intoxication on the night had been about "eight out of 10" after drinking shots of spirits and pints of beer. A judge described Rees' decision to get behind the wheel knowing how drunk he was as "extremely worrying", and he said his behaviour had been "selfish and dangerous".
Sian Cutter, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that on the night of March 26 this year a couple were leaving the westbound M4 at the Penllergaer junction in their Ford Fiesta when they felt a vehicle "smash" into the back of them. The court heard Rees' van then passed the car on the driver's side - so close that it smashed-off the wing mirror - before sharply cutting in front of the Fiesta and flipping onto two wheels. From there the van shot across the slip road and left the carriageway before careering onto the adjacent A48 road. Miss Cutter said the van came to rest on its side on the dual carriageway directly in the path of an approaching car, which was just able to stop before hitting it.
The court heard the shocked driver of the Fiesta got out of his car and went to check what had happened, and he saw the van on its side on the A48 with the trapped driver shouting and screaming, and trying to smash the windscreen. Rees and his female passenger eventually had to be freed by firefighters.
A subsequent breath test showed the 35-year-old defendant was almost twice the drink-driving limit. In his police interview Rees told officers he had been drinking shots and pints in bars in Neath before driving, and when asked to rate his level of intoxication he put it at "eight out of 10". The court heard that when the defendant was shown the dashcam footage of the crash he was "horrified" and apologised for what he had done, and asked if anyone had been injured.
In an impact statement which was read to the court the driver of the Fiesta said he had been left with back and neck pain as a result of the crash, and had to take two weeks of work. He said the crash had worsened his anxiety and depression, and added that his car had been written-off by insurers.
Steven Martin Rees, of Rhyd Wen, Rhosamman, Ammanford, had previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has six previous convictions for six offences including one for possession of a disguised stun-gun from 2016 for which he was sentenced to 32 months in prison, and one for drink-driving from 2015 which resulted in him being banned from driving for 22 months.
John Allchurch, for Rees, said on the night in question the defendant had arranged to meet friends in Neath and one thing led to another and he consumed far too much alcohol before making the catastrophic decision to drive home. He said after his client was released from prison for the stun-gun offence he decided to make something of his life and now runs a successful business repairing and selling off-road bikes which employs three people.
Judge Jeremy Jenkins told Rees it was "extremely worrying" that he had decided to get behind the wheel of his van given his level of intoxication, and he described his behaviour as "selfish and dangerous". The judge said a custodial sentence was not only appropriate but inevitable, and the only question to be decided was whether that sentence had to be served immediately or could be suspended. The judge said Rees clearly had a problem with alcohol and the reality was, given the level of sentencing available to the court, there was little prospect of any meaningful work to tackle that problem being done in custody - he said the better long-term option, better for both the defendant and for society, would be a sentence which allowed the Probation Service the time to work with the defendant to address the issue.
With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas Rees was sentenced to a total of 10 months in prison suspended for 18 months, was ordered to complete a rehabilitation course and a thinking skills programme. He must also do 180 hours of unpaid work in the community and pay £420 in prosecution costs. Rees was banned from driving for three years, and must pass an extended test before he can get his licence back.
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