‘Careless’ Mansfield driver chased by motorist before crashing into a tree

Daniel Roberts was driving a white Nissan camper van on Leeming Lane, on February 27, last year, when he hit the rear end of a car carrying the motorist and his eight-year-old son.

Roberts ignored him as he honked his horn and flashed his lights, said prosecutor Daniel Wilshaw.

The motorist pulled alongside him and asked Roberts, "who appeared to be under the influence of something," to stop.

Roberts shouted back that the other man had driven into him, and accelerated, reaching speeds of 60 mph in a 30 mph zone.

He ran a red light on Ling Forest Road and crashed into the tree on Lichfield Lane.

Roberts ran off but was wrestled to the ground by the motorist and another member of the public. A blood test revealed he had 108 mcgs of alcohol when the legal limit is 80 mcgs.

Arjun Madahar, mitigating, said Roberts deserved credit for his early guilty pleas and previous good character.

"It's a shame he finds himself before the courts,” he said. “Utimately, he is very sorry for what has happened and wants to apologise – in particular to the other driver concerned.

“He makes no attempt to minimise what happened.”

Mr Madahar said that Roberts appeared to have suffered “some kind of mental health breakdown” after drinking at home.

“At the time he was alcohol dependent,” he said. “He has since made efforts to minimise his drinking.”

After hitting the other vehicle, he “simply panicked,” Mr Madahar told the court.

Roberts, 26, of Park Avenue, Mansfield, admitted drink driving, without a licence or insurance, failing to stop after an accident and driving without due care and attention, on December 11.

On Thursday, magistrates imposed a 12-month community order with ten rehabilitation days and a 13-week curfew between 7pm and 7am. He was banned for 14 months, but a rehabilitation course for drink drivers will reduce the disqualification by 25 per cent if he completes it before November this year.

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