M5 drink-driver three times the limit in head-on crash after going wrong way

The terrifying moment a drink-driver three times the limit drove the wrong way on the M5 - causing a terrifying crash - has been caught on camera. Police in Gloucestershire received several 999 calls from concerned motorists reporting a Mini Cooper travelling in the wrong direction on the southbound carriageway of the motorway^[1], near Tewkesbury, last October.

Officers discovered a head-on collision near Strensham Services involving the Mini and a Vauxhall Astra. Two lorries had also been struck and damaged in the incident.

Footage released by Gloucestershire Constabulary today, June 7, showed traffic moving southbound along the motorway before the Mini appeared in the third lane and crashed into the Astra. The Mini then span across several lanes before hitting a lorry.

Astra driver Carly Pope, aged 30 and from Bristol, suffered a broken arm in two places, whiplash, cuts, bruises and soft tissue damage, while a male passenger had whiplash and bruising. The Mini driver, Dorothy Denny, aged 65 and from Bredon in Worcestershire^[3], suffered broken ribs.

She provided a roadside breath test that was more than three times the legal limit. She later admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving and drink-driving at Gloucester Crown Court^[4], where she was handed a 20-month suspended prison sentence and £10,000 fine and banned for driving for ten years.

Pc Stuart Dudfield, from Gloucestershire Constabulary, said it was a "miracle no one died in this". He continued: "No-one expects to see a car heading straight at them on the motorway and it must have been a terrifying few moments for Carly, her passenger and the other motorists who were forced to take evasive action.

"The injuries experienced by Carly were severe, on top of the lasting trauma she has described. In all my years' experience in roads policing this has got to be one of the starkest examples of what can happen when you drink drive or drive whilst impaired."

"The defendant was compliant during my investigation and very remorseful, however that does not excuse the fact that she made a conscious decision to drive her vehicle whilst intoxicated". He added: "Anyone who thinks they can still drive under the influence of drink or drugs should watch this footage, read Carly's words and think about the implications."

Describing the impact the crash had on her, Ms Pope said: "Following the incident I have had breakdowns as a passenger on the motorway at night, I have vivid nightmares when I do manage to sleep and I don't feel as though I will ever be as confident a driver as I once was."

Police said Denny admitted drinking alcohol after receiving sad news and had driven to a garage in Ashchurch Road, Tewkesbury, to buy milk and more alcohol. After leaving the forecourt, she turned left instead of right for her home address, then went around a roundabout to get back off at Ashchurch Road.

Denny then took a left-hand turn to the M5 southbound off-slip and travelled up the motorway on the southbound side. She believed she was in lane one but was actually in lane three and carried on driving against the flow of traffic for more than two miles before colliding head-on with the Astra and hitting the lorries.

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References

1. ^{^} motorway (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
2. ^{^} Midlands motorists warned over upcoming motorway closures near Birmingham Airport (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
3. ^{^} Worcestershire (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
4. ^{^} Gloucester Crown Court (www.birminghammail.co.uk)