A van driver who cut-up an unmarked police car then led officers on a midnight chase through residential streets refused to take a breath test saying he had drunk "gutter water", a court has heard.
Scaffolder Richard Evans tried to run from his van after losing control and spinning 180 degrees but was knocked down after the pursuing cop car tried to block him in, suffering serious leg injuries in the process. Later blood tests show Evans was over the driving limits for alcohol and a derivative of cocaine.
Swansea Crown Court heard the pursuit happened shortly after midnight on November 1 last year when a Ford van jumped a red traffic light at the junction of Birchgrove Road and Heol Tylluan in Birchgrove, cutting up and almost colliding with an unmarked police car.
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Hannah George, prosecuting, said the officers followed the van has it headed towards Glais and signalled for it to stop. The vehicle pulled over and the PCs got out to speak to the driver, Evans, but at that moment a male passenger alighted from the van and then it suddenly sped off. The officers got back into their car and pursued Evans along the main Birchgrove Road before turning left at the Bridge End pub. The defendant raced along Heol Dulais, Heol Cledwyn, and Heol Nant Bran, mounting the pavements as he took corners at speed, before losing control of his van and spinning 180 degrees in the road.
The court heard the officers initially believed the defendant was trying to get his van into gear in order to drive at them and ram their patrol car but when the Ford did not move, they decided to pull forward to block the driver's door. Miss George said that at that moment Evans got out of the vehicle and was struck by his own door as the cop car collided with it, knocking him to the floor.
The prosecutor said 46-year-old Evans smelt strongly of alcohol and appeared to be under the influence of substances but he refused to take a roadside breath saying he had drunk "gutter water" from the floor. Officers noticed empty snap-seal bags containing residue of a white power around the van. The court heard he told officers he was an alcoholic and had gone out at 2pm the previous afternoon intending to stop at two drinks but could not remember anything after that.
Evans was taken to Morriston Hospital were open fractures to his tibia and fibula leg bones were diagnosed. He gave a sample of blood for analysis and tests showed he was over the limits for alcohol and benzoylecgonine, the substance formed in the body as cocaine is metabolised. Read about a driver seen "drifting" from lane to lane on the M4 who had taken 20 Valium tablets.
Richard David Howard Evans, of Woodside Crescent, Clydach, Swansea Valley, had previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, failing to stop, driving with excess alcohol, and driving with a level of a specified drug above the legal limit when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He had three previous convictions for three offences including assaulting an emergency worker in 2019, and driving with excess alcohol in 2000.
Rhodri Chudleigh, for Evans, said the defendant had been sober for eight years until 2019 when the breakdown of a relationship led to his life falling apart and a relapse into heavy drinking. But he said the father-of-three now had a new partner, and was working with Alcoholics Anonymous and the Welsh alcohol and drug charity Wcada. The advocate said the defendant had suffered significant leg injuries in the incident which had required a number of operations and which had left the scaffolder in constant pain and unable to ever return to his chosen trade. He said it had been a "difficult seven months" for Evans but despite that he had not returned to alcohol, and he invited the court to suspend the prison sentence that was due to allow his client to continue to make progress.
Recorder Christian Jowett said the offending was so serious only a custodial sentence was appropriate but that was satisfied - though "only just" - that there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation and that the sentence could be suspended. With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas Evans was sentenced to 16 months in prison suspended for 18 months and was ordered to complete an alcohol treatment course and a rehabilitation programme, and to abide by a nightly curfew for the next three months. He was banned from driving for 30 months and must pass an extended test before he can get his licence back. Evans was also ordered to pay £530 towards prosecution costs.
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