A drink driver claimed to have fled the scene of a crash in order to speak to his mum.
Callum Livermore was over the limit when he got behind the wheel of his Vauxhall Corsa and collided with a parked car. However, rather than stay at the scene to face the music, the 24-year-old made off on foot, a court was told.
Unfortunately for him, the vehicle's owner had seen Livermore run away and passed his description on to the police, who located him nearby. Now, the stone mason, of Mitford Gardens, in Wallsend, has been banned from the roads for 24 months after he pleaded guilty tot driving with excess alcohol.
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Stephanie Cook, prosecuting at North Tyneside Magistrates' Court, said a witness looked out the window of his home on King's Road North, in Wallsend, after hearing a loud bang at around 2.10am on December 23 last year. Miss Cook added: "He saw that a red Corsa had crashed into his Ford Mondeo.
"He saw a male exit the Corsa and run off towards the Coast Road. Soon after, police apprehended a man near the Coast Road who matched the description given by the witness. The defendant admitted he was Callum Livermore and he had been the driver."
The court heard that Livermore failed a roadside breath test, later giving a reading of 95mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, when the legal limit is 35mcg.
Mark Harrison, defending, said Livermore, who has no past convictions, hadn't intended to drink alcohol when he met up with his cousin at a local pub earlier in the evening. Mr Harrison told magistrates: "He stayed out longer than intended and, as the evening went on, he decided to have a drink.
"Stupidly, he decided to drive the short distance back to his home. He was involved with a collision with a parked vehicle. The running off and him running to speak to his mother."
Fining Livermore £461 and ordering him to pay £85 costs and a £184 victim surcharge, chairing magistrate, Keith McIntosh, said: "There's no excuse for drink driving. It's well-publicised, it has been around for a long time, but it never ceases to amaze us how many people still get involved in drink driving."
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