South Shields man crashed into car after drinking vodka - then told owner to call the police on him

Kristopher John Lawson, 30, of Tweed Street, South Shields, admitted driving with alcohol above the limit when he appeared before South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.

Lawson was found to have 77 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, with the limit being 35, when the incident happened in Hebburn’s Cornwall Road on August 24.

Lorna Rimell, prosecuting, said the victim was at home when she heard a loud bang outside at about 3.45pm.

She said: “She looked out to see that a car had crashed into her own car causing substantial damage.

“The car driver said ‘it’s my fault, I have scraped your car, call the police’ and that’s what she did.”

She said the defendant was very frank with the police saying he had crashed the car and had been drinking vodka.

Geoff Forrester, defending, said: “He presents as a decent young man.”

He said he stopped and owned up and waited for the police to be called.

Mr Forrester said: “He couldn’t do more than that in the circumstances he was in.”

Lawson was fined £120 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £32 victim surcharge. He was banned from driving for 20 months.