Drink and drug driver who left passenger after smashing car into tree is banned from drinking for four months

As part of a suspended sentence, Joshua Biggs was ordered to abstain from alcohol for 120 days and was banned from driving for three years.

The unemployed 31-year-old was heading towards the A27 near Arundel, West Sussex, when he lost control of his car and hit a tree. After the smash at around 11.30pm on January 28, the motor ended upside down after rolling into a ditch with the front and bonnet left in tatters.

Despite freeing himself, Biggs called out to his passenger stuck in the car but when there was no answer, he made no attempt to get help.

PC Ant Baker, from Sussex Police's Roads Policing Unit investigated the case, said: "He crashed his vehicle just before joining the A27 and managed to get himself out of the wreckage, and was then seen by members of the public calling out to his passenger who didn't reply. The passenger was still trapped inside the vehicle, but rather than call for emergency services to help, Biggs decided to flee the scene, leaving his passenger in the crashed vehicle."

The police found the man from East Preston, West Sussex, walking along the carriageway half a mile away from the crash, and he was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving. After various tests, Biggs was found to be 16 micrograms over the 35mcg legal alcohol limit.

He also had cannabis in his system above the drug-driving limit. Biggs appeared before Crawley Magistrates' Court on August 5, where he admitted driving over the prescribed limit for alcohol and class B drugs.

The court ordered him to complete 120 days of alcohol abstinence as part of a ten-week suspended prison sentence, and to complete ten rehabilitation activity requirement (RAR) days, which aims to reduce the probability of reoffending.

Along with a three year driving disqualification, he must also pay £85 court costs and a £128 victim surcharge.

Speaking after the case, PC Baker said: "Drink and drug driving is a serious offence with serious consequences. Biggs decided to get behind the wheel of a car under the influence of drink and drugs, with no regard for other people's safety."

Drink and drug driving is one of the five fatal factors that lead to deaths and injuries on the roads, police said.

PC Baker added: "This demonstrates the kind of selfish mindset that it takes to drive a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs. These are the types of people we spend our time trying to remove from the road before incidents like this happen. We are determined to catch offenders and to stop them causing harm on to themselves or other road users.

"The sentence handed to Biggs reflects the serious nature of the offence and his actions at the scene and serves as a deterrent to others who may consider committing these offences. We are pleased that another dangerous motorist has been taken off our roads."