A Penrith man found over the drink-drive limit after a tipper lorry left the road and crashed close to Ullswater has been hit with a 16-month ban.
Video footage from 25-year-old Jordan Eric Stewart’s own vehicle was used by a prosecutor to describe an incident which occurred on the A592 between Glenridding and Aira Force at around 4pm on September 9 last year.
Stewart, of Carleton Hall Walk, had been driving a Scania P-SRS C class tipper lorry.
Peter Kelly, prosecuting, told Carlisle Magistrates’ Court: “During the course of his driving, the defendant has simply left the road, crossing the opposite carriageway and driving into a ditch.”
The dash-cam clip showed the lorry’s windscreen wipers to be engaged and the road surface to be wet before it crashed through a fence and careered into bushes.
Stewart was taken to hospital and the analysis of a blood sample later showed he was just over the legal drink-drive limit.
He admitted a drink-driving charge today and was represented in court by defence lawyer Mark Shepherd, who told how the defendant was “mentally not in a good place at that time”. He was an otherwise good driver who had passed his driving test aged 17 and gained his HGV licence at 21.
Stewart lived with his partner in a home of three children, one of whom was dependant on him having a licence to attend hospital appointments in relation to her heart.
Following the crash, Stewart had immediately lost his job with a transport company but had since gained new employment. He had also taken many positive steps to address his drinking during six “intense” months.
“He realises that the outcome could have been so much worse not just for him but for others,” said Mr Shepherd. “It is not something that has been lost on him while he has been going through that process.”
Magistrates fined Stewart £426 and banned him from driving for 16 months. He was offered a rehabilitation course which, if completed, will reduce his disqualification by 16 weeks.
