Terrance Mgwaqo, 31, of Fort Road, St Peter Port, admitted counts of dangerous driving and drink-driving when he appeared in the Magistrate’s Court.
He had only acquired the Audi he was driving that same day, back in June. Both vehicles were written off. The defendant and friends had gone to Cobo socialising. They had lunch and spent time on the beach. They were consuming alcohol and as darkness fell, the defendant got in his car to drive home.
He had a passenger in the front seat and the other friends were in another car that left the beach at the same time. Both vehicles went to Jeffrey’s Service Station on the way.
Shortly before 9.30pm another man and his partner were driving up Ruettes Brayes. Near the bend by Iris and Dora, the man recalled seeing headlights coming straight towards him on his side of the road.
The next thing he knew, the airbags on his Citroen ‘blew up’ in his face. His car was struck on the front offside and pushed against the nearside wall. The defendant’s Audi ending up facing back up the road.
An ambulance that had driven up Colborne Road seconds before the accident returned to the scene.
The driver of the Citroen estimated the other car’s speed to be between 50-60mph on impact.
The defendant suffered a head injury and was taken to hospital, where a test identified 163 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of his blood, when the legal limit is 80.
The driver of the car which had been travelling in convoy with the defendant’s, and who stopped at the scene, was subsequently convicted of drink-driving.
Mgwaqo had no previous convictions. He said in interview that he had acquired the car in a private sale. He estimated his speed to have been 20mph to 30mph at the time of the collision. He thought he had failed to negotiate the kerb and said he might have been looking down at the gear stick at the time, as the vehicle was new to him.
Both people in the Citroen were taken to hospital with what was found to be minor injuries.
The woman passenger had to take six days off work as a result and needed a follow up GP appointment.
Defending, Advocate Sarah Morgan said her client had shown deep remorse for what had happened and had no doubt as to the seriousness of it. People who he worked with spoke highly of him.
Judge Gary Perry said the court had to deal with far too many offences of drink-driving and many perpetrators, like the defendant, had never been in trouble before. But this had been a horrific incident.
‘It was everyone’s worst fear of what might happen when someone, who was over twice the limit like you were, gets behind the wheel,’ he said.
It was only by luck that nobody had been more seriously injured, he added.
Mgwaqo was jailed for two months concurrently for each offence.
Concurrent driving bans of three and half years, and two years, were imposed for the dangerous driving and drink driving respectively.
