Danger Driver Fled; Boozed-Up Crash Motorist Left Passenger Seriously Injured In Car
Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), July 12, 2010
Byline: LINDA RICHARDS
THIS luxury car was smashed up by a boozy driver who fled, leaving a friend trapped and badly injured.
The passenger, who had to be cut free by firefighters, suffered such serious injuries that he had to have his left hand and part of his forearm amputated.
To escape responsibility, callous drunk driver Stephen Goodwin, who was almost three times over the limit, ran off into nearby fields, sparking a police search.
The 27-year-old was found nearby a short time later and had 94mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35. Tests also showed he had taken cocaine.
Smartly-dressed Goodwin, of Mansion Heights, Whickham Highway, pleaded guilty to driving dangerously, with alcohol above the limit and failing to stop after a road accident when he appeared before Gateshead JPs.
Prosecutor Justin Gibson said Goodwin first gave cause for concern when he was spotted near Asda petrol station at the MetroCentre at 8.40am.
A witness putting fuel in their car heard the screech of tyres and saw Goodwin’s Audi convertible coming around a corner into the car park.
“The driver seemed to have hit a kerb and lost control,” said Mr Gibson. “CCTV shows the car driving through some bushes surrounding the entrance to the car park. After that, witnesses suggests the Audi struck a signpost then drove off through bushes and drove at speeds of 60mph.”
Then at 9am three witnesses driving in a vehicle on Whickham Highway feared they were going to be hit by the speeding Audi coming towards them.
The Audi careered on to the wrong lane, hit the kerb, then swerved back to its correct side. It hit the other kerb and a lamppost before coming to rest in bushes.
Mr Gibson added: “The driver, who was Goodwin, ran off into nearby fields. There was a front seat passenger left there by Goodwin. When emergency services attended the scene the passenger needed to be cut out of the vehicle.”
Goodwin must now wait to learn his fate after magistrates decided their powers of punishment were insufficient
bad breath
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