'Idiot' drunk driver nearly hit pedestrians in Leeds city centre after 'smashing vodka'
A drunk driver narrowly missed revellers in Leeds as he drove on a pavement and the wrong way down a one-way street.
Thomas McConnell, 23, of Winrose Approach, Leeds, drove “like a complete idiot” around the city on March 22 this year, leading police on a 15-minute chase and reaching speeds of 80mph in a 40mph zone, Leeds Crown Court heard.
He was eventually pulled over and told officers that he had “smashed vodka” and compared his driving to Grand Theft Auto.
McConnell pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous driving and one of failing to provide a specimen. He was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court on Thursday (May 30).
For the prosecution, Joseph Bell said that at 1.30am on the day of the incident officers spotted McConnell driving a Toyota Yaris at speed on Great Wilson Street. Police followed the car on to Crown Point Road before activating their lights.
They chased McConnell in to the city centre, where he drove the wrong way on Lower Briggate and “mounted a pavement that was busy with pedestrians and people drinking”. The chase then continued down Marsh Lane and onto York Road, where McConnell ignored red lights and reached speeds of 80mph as he “weaved in and out of traffic”.
McConnell was eventually brought to a stop and police found he was “unsteady on his feet” and had “glazed eyes”. Mr Bell said: “He didn’t seem to appreciate the gravity of what he’d done.”
McConnell told police he had “been on the sesh” and had “smashed vodka” before getting behind the wheel. He also compared his driving to the Grand Theft Auto video games. He refused to give police a breath sample.
A probation officer’s report was provided to the judge that said McConnell “panicked” after seeing the police car and he “acknowledged this was a stupid mistake”.
McConnell had failed to attend a previous hearing and so was remanded in custody. He told the probation officer that his four weeks in prison had been “a major wake up call and he hopes not to find himself here again”.
For the defence, Jordan Millican said that McConnell had been diagnosed with “genuine and severe ADHD” and that he was “totally unsuitable” for the prison environment.
Mr Millican said that imposing a suspended sentence would act as a “sword of Damocles” over him.
He said: “He’s had a taste of prison and, not to put too fine a point on it, but it has put the fear of God in him.
“It’s unlikely that he’s going to trouble these courts again.”
The judge, Mr Recorder Samuel Green KC, summed up the details of the offending, saying that McConnell had driven “like a complete idiot through the centre of Leeds”.
He sentenced McConell to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and do 20 rehabilitation activity days.