Huthwaite drink-driver chased through narrow Sutton streets at 70mph-plus

Daniel Edwards' ex-partner told police he was driving while drunk after he hammered on her front door on September 10 last year, said prosecutor Caroline Sellars.

Police spotted his Hyundai and illuminated their lights but he accelerated and overtook an HGV on Common Lane – reaching speeds of 73mph in a 30mph zone.

He ran red lights as he drove on to Main Street and was clocked at 55mph as he travelled along narrow residential streets.

Edwards abandoned his car at Brierley Forest Golf Club and fled on foot, but he was arrested shortly afterwards and tests showed he was twice over the drink-drive limit.

In a separate incident on November 23, 2019, staff threw him out of the Badger Box pub, in Annesley, and watched as he climbed into his car and reversed it into a parked vehicle.

Edwards drove forward, hitting a parked Saab not once but twice, before colliding with a traffic light and leaving it so bent that it blocked the lane.

Nottingham Crown Court was told he has 13 previous convictions for 30 offences – mostly for violence – and he was jailed for 64 months in 2014 for knifing a man.

Digby Johnson, in mitigation, said: "This is a story of a life badly lived. Alcohol has certainly been his refuge as far as his adult life is concerned.

"He says he got money by work of one sort or another and he would spend it in the pub with his friends.

But since September last year ‘he got a sense of the damage that he could have done. He went to AA and stopped drinking. He kept it going’.

Edwards, 28, of Chesterfield Road, Huthwaite, was convicted of drink driving, dangerous driving and failing to stop after an accident on December 10.

Judge Stuart Rafferty QC described his behaviour as ‘drunk, pompous, self-important and arrogant’.

He told him: “The last thing I want to do is give you the chance to sit in prison and feel sorry for yourself.”

On Thursday, he imposed an 18-month community order with 10 rehabilitation days and 100 hours of unpaid work. Edwards was banned for two years.

Editor’s message: Support your Chad by becoming a digital subscriber. You will see 70 per cent fewer ads on stories, meaning faster load times and an overall enhanced user experience. Click here to subscribe.