Sutton drink-driver crashed into ambulance worker who chased and stopped him

A Sutton drink-driver who collided with an ambulance worker's car when he veered across the white line was chased and stopped by the same motorist, a court heard
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Paul Simpson was travelling at speed when he left the roundabout on Castlewood Grove, which was busy with pedestrians and children riding their bikes, on May 22, Nottingham Magistrates’ Court was told.

Lottie Tyler, prosecuting, said the driver of a grey Citroën C4 had to swerve out of the way, but Simpson still collided with him in his blue Ford Fiesta.

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The first responder followed Simpson onto Redbarn Way where he overtook him as they went over speed-bumps and pulled in front to force him to slow down.

Nottingham Magistrates Court.Nottingham Magistrates Court.
Nottingham Magistrates Court.

Simpson, aged 50, drove into the back of the Citroën . The first responder got out and, as Simpson, rolled down his window, he was hit by the smell of alcohol.

He saw a small bottle of vodka was empty in the passenger footwell and confiscated his keys.

Simpson asked for them back and said the man was ‘harsh’ when he called the police.

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Simpson, aged 50, of Crowtrees Drive, admitted drink-driving.

Nadir Prabatani, mitigating, said Simpson, who is of previous good character, entered his guilty plea at the first opportunity.

He said the grandfather-of-two suffers from anxiety and depression and was signed off from his work as a precision engineer for two weeks.

A counsellor advised him to play golf and he was returning the ‘very short distance home’, from a game with workmates, when the accident happened.

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Mr Prabatani described the way Simpson was stopped as ‘something you would expect from the police on a TPAC manoeuvre, not from an untrained individual’.

He said: “Simpson hasn't driven since. There is remorse. He has lost his good character. If you were to send him to prison today he would lose his job.”

Simpson was handed a 12-month community order, with an 80-day alcohol-abstinence monitoring requirement and 140 hours of unpaid work.

He was banned from driving for 32 months and was also ordered to pay a £95 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.