Drunk and drugged motorway driver jailed

A man who took to the road while drunk and drugged – despite already being disqualified from driving – has been jailed.

On 22 February 2024, North Yorkshire Police received calls from members of the public reporting collisions and incidents of dangerous driving involving a Suzuki Grand Vitara, in and around Pateley Bridge and Ripon.

Officers were dispatched immediately – they caught sight of the vehicle being driven at high speed, sliding on the road with smoke coming from its tyres.

The vehicle was driven onto the A1(M) northbound, and the force received further reports of it swerving all over the motorway.

It left at junction 51, and crashed into a hedge on the B6285 near Exelby.

The driver – Shaun Thomas Hodgson – appeared to be asleep or unconscious, and only woke up when police smashed a window to gain access.

Hodgson was arrested. Blood tests showed alcohol and benzoylecgonine (a chemical associated with cocaine) in his system, both above the legal limit.

He was charged with driving whilst disqualified, driving dangerously, drug driving, drink driving, failing to report an accident, failing to stop after an accident, and driving without insurance.

Hodgson, 29, from Whickham, Gateshead, pleaded guilty on 22 October, and at York Crown Court on 2 December, he was jailed for a total of 16 months, and disqualified from driving for three years.

The sentencing followed the start of North Yorkshire Police’s annual Christmas drink and drug drive campaign on 1 December.

Launching the campaign, Superintendent Andrew Berriman, from the force’s Specialist Operations Unit, said: “We will be out in force through December and make no apology for doing all that we can to take offenders who are over the drink drive limit or under the influence of drugs off North Yorkshire’s roads. The overwhelming majority of law-abiding motorists are appalled at drink and drug driving and will back the action taken against a small minority to make our roads safer.”

Throughout the month of December, North Yorkshire Police will be increasing the number of proactive drink and drug driving patrols, using marked and unmarked vehicles and a range of specialist tactics.