A drink driver who blew almost five times the legal alcohol limit has been jailed for a head-on smash that left another motorist with serious chest injuries.
Mantus Siskus was behind the wheel of a Ford Focus when it collided with a Vauxhall Corsa in Evans Street, Wolverhampton, just before 9.30pm on December 8 last year.
The 26-year-old Lithuanian national – who was taken from the scene on a spinal board after slamming into the windscreen – provided a roadside specimen registering 187 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal drink-drive limit is 35mg.
Siskus was released from hospital following treatment in the early hours of December 9 and provided another breath test and blood sample at a police station – both of which showed he was still over the limit several hours later.
He went on to admit dangerous driving, drink driving and driving without insurance or a valid licence – and at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Wednesday (11 June) he was jailed for 15 months.
Inspector Greg Jennings from West Midlands Police’s traffic unit, said: “This was an extreme case: to be five times over the limit and still drunk several hours later he must have consumed a huge amount of alcohol before getting behind the wheel. It’s scary to imagine what condition he would have been in when trying to drive.
“Anyone who drives after drinking alcohol puts themselves and others at risk as their focus and reaction times become blurred. He’s rightly been handed a jail term – his actions could easily have had fatal consequences.”
When officers arrived at the crash scene they found Siskus, a farm worker living in Nine Elms Lane, Park Village, staggering at the roadside and two men in the Corsa seriously hurt.
The 20-year-old passenger was taken to a specialist heart unit at a Liverpool hospital after suffering serious chest injuries whilst the driver, also 20, suffered a broken thigh. A 44-year-old man travelling in the Focus alongside Siskus suffered only minor cuts and grazes.
Insp Jennings, added: “People need to understand the consequences of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It’s far more than just the risk of imprisonment, heavy fines and driving bans: it ruins lives and can leave innocent people dead or seriously hurt.
“There are still too many people who think it’s OK to drink and drive but the truth is the only safe level of drinking when you are planning to drive is zero, because any amount of alcohol will impair your ability to drive safely.
“The warning is particularly relevant this summer with late World Cup kick-offs and the risk of people driving the morning after drinking whilst still over the limit – or people driving home after watching games at pubs.
“The message is getting through: figures from the last drink drive campaign at Christmas showed a fall in the percentage of people testing positive, failing or refusing to provide breath samples compared to the previous season. It’s vital we continue this reduction.”