Chatham driver who rowed with his wife after night of drinking Champagne in Rye, crashed his car in Yalding
A Mercedes driver who rowed with his wife after a night drinking Champagne, crashed his car into a fence after being “kicked out” of their hotel room.
Benn Wood, from Chatham[1], was with his wife in Rye, East Sussex and they had booked a hotel room for the night.
Wood had been drinking Champagne before the crash. iStockphoto, RomoloTavani
But after their row, Wood, 38, decided he would get behind the wheel of his Mercedes and drive home, but on the way, he crashed his vehicle into a fence near The George pub in Benover Road, Yalding.
The crash happened during the early hours of the morning and police were called to the scene. After speaking to Wood and asking him to do a roadside breath test, he was arrested.
Wood, of Hallsfield Road, Walderslade, was later charged with drink-driving and admitted the offence when he appeared before magistrates in Maidstone on September 5.
Debbie Jones prosecuting told the court the incident happened at about 1.20am on August 3, and Wood gave a reading of 75 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the legal limit is 35.
She added: “He crashed the vehicle into a fence and when the police spoke to him he was arrested for failing the breath test.
Wood was sentenced at Maidstone Magistrates Court
“He was taken to the police station and told officers he’d had a row with his wife and had decided to drive home as she had kicked him out of the room. They had been drinking Champagne earlier.”
The bench were told he had nowhere to sleep – his wife had needed some space that night and he had decided to drive home.
They also heard he was ashamed about what he had done, he had been depressed and the episode was wholly out of character for him.
The court also heard it was only the second accident he’s been involved in since he started driving at the age of 18 and that he had a clean licence.
Magistrates told Wood his decision on the night was wrong and they banned him from driving for 17 months and fined him £440 and ordered he pay a victim surcharge of £176 as well as £85 costs.