A lettings agent who drove his Bentley into parked cars after a 12-hour booze bender told police he got behind the wheel because he couldn’t find a taxi.
Warren Knight had been drinking since lunchtime when he drove his black Bentley Continental into two parked vehicles in Goldstone Street, Hove.
He then left the scene on foot, but was traced by specialist officers from the Roads Policing Unit to his home address – a half hour walk away – where he had gone to sleep.
In custody, they found he was still more than twice the drink-drive limit, more than three hours after the collisions were reported.
Police today publicised the case – first reported by Brighton and Hove News – saying they wanted to highlight how easily preventable it was.
At Brighton Magistrates’ Court on September 21, Knight admitted driving over the prescribed limit for alcohol and has been disqualified from driving.
The court was told how the incident was reported near the tunnel under the railway at the junction of Conway Street and Fonthill Road at 1.30am on July 30.
Officers traced Knight as the registered keeper of the vehicle back to his home address in Hill Drive, Hove.
He presented to officers and confirmed he was driving the vehicle at the time of the collision.
Knight, who owns Property Moves, in Church Road, failed a roadside breath test.
In custody he tested positive for 85 micrograms (uhg) of alcohol per 100 millilitres (ml) of breath. The legal limit is 35uhg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.
At interview, he admitted he had been drinking since lunchtime the day before, and had hoped to book a taxi home.
When he could not find one, he returned to his office to drive his own vehicle.
Knight said the collision was caused by the radio or a distraction inside the car, and accepted he should not have been drinking and driving.
In court, he was disqualified from driving for 22 months, and was ordered to pay a £2,300 fine, £920 surcharge, and £85 court costs.
Speaking after the case, RPU officer PC Christine Clack said: “Knight’s actions were reckless, he was extremely lucky not to have caused serious harm to himself or anyone else on the road.
“Drink-driving is one of the main causes of people being killed or seriously injured on our roads.
“Taking steps to prevent drink-driving, such as booking a taxi or walking home are some of the easiest ways to prevent drink-driving and the risks this poses.
“Knight apologised for his behaviour, and has had to pay a high price for his poor decision to get behind the wheel that night.”
Does this guy live in some parallel universe where phones don’t exist?
And there we have it. People struggling to afford ever increasing rents, while letting agents drive around in Bentleys. What are we doing?
Completely unacceptable behaviour. As someone who has had to deal with the injuries they cause to others, anyone who decides to make such a stupid and selfish decision is scum in my opinion, pure and simple.
“Knight said the collision was caused by the radio…”. Did the radio reach out and turn the steering wheel unexpectedly? No, the collision was caused by a drunk driver, one who is too incompetent to find a taxi in Hove and too lazy to walk the extra 15 minutes walk from his office to the crash site.