Drunk driver faces court after car flip

Joseph Evans, 25, of Bedford Square, Leigh, appeared before Wigan magistrates pleading guilty to four charges relating to the incident which took place on Leigh Road on December 17 last year.

Evans will be sentenced for driving without insurance, driving without an MOT certificate, driving dangerously and driving at almost double the legal limit.

Crown prosecutor, Steve Woodman told the court: “This is deliberate driving at significant speed whilst well over the limit with drink, flipping the car on its roof and claiming several garden walls.”

Magistrates heard how police received calls in the early hours of the morning after Leigh Road residents heard a “huge collision” and saw the Ford Fiesta flipped on its roof near to Bookers Cash and Carry.

In the aftermath of the crash, onlookers ran from their houses to help drag Evans and his passenger from the car where they were then treated by paramedics before being taken to hospital.

Mr Woodman added: “There were no other vehicles involved in the incident. It caused extensive damage to garden walls on Leigh Road and the passenger was hospitalised for treatment.”

After Evans’ arrest he gave a “no comment” interview, which his defence solicitor Graham Simpson argued was because he had “no recollection” of the crash.

The court heard that the passenger was asking Evans to “slow down” minutes before the incident as he was driving between 60 and 70 in “dark and foggy conditions”. Evans eventually lost control as he attempted to overtake a car on a bend.

According to the prosecution, the passenger suffered a hairline fracture to his hip.

Defending Evans, Mr Simpson added: “He was knocked unconscious at the scene and he has no recollection of the matter. I am instructed that the passenger did not suffer a fractured hip and that it was just soft tissue damage. It is bad, there’s no two ways about that.”

Before the crash, Evans was working in full-time self-employment but he has been unable to return to work since.

He will be sentenced at Bolton Crown Court on May 3.