Drink-driver sentenced to more than 5 years in prison

A drink-driver who caused the death of a young woman has been sentenced to 5 years and 7 months in prison and been disqualified from driving for 5 years and 10 months at Teesside Crown Court today.

Simon Allport, 43 from Stockton-On -Tees, pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving.

On the 14 July 2020 at 5.30pm, Allport was driving his Black BMW M4 Coupe along Tanton Road, Stokesley, when he collided with a Silver Nissan Qashqai that was travelling in the opposite direction. Allport was on the wrong side of the road and narrowly missed a head on collision with another vehicle travelling towards him before colliding with the Qashqai and forcing it off the carriageway into a field. Sadly, the driver of the Qashqai, 33-year-old Amie Linton, died later in hospital as a result of the collision.

An investigation conducted by our Major Collision Investigation Team established Simon Allport had been in the Master Cooper public house prior to the collision, before taking a friend for a ride in his car. Allport was found to be under the influence of alcohol and over the prescribed limit when he was arrested after the collision.

Major Collision Investigation Detective Inspector, Jez Bartley, said: 

“Simon Allport was found to be more than one-and-a-half times over the legal alcohol limit when he crashed his BMW into Amie Linton’s car, and he will need to learn to live with the consequences of his selfish and deadly actions for the rest of his life.

“Getting behind the wheel after drinking alcohol destroys the lives of so many people. We welcome the judges’ sentence today and hope it acts as a warning to others who wrongly think it’s acceptable to drink and drive.

“My thoughts and sympathies go out to Amie’s family, who have shown incredible courage throughout this emotional investigation and court process, having suffered unimaginable devastation.”