Driver sentenced for swigging Bollinger before he hit family’s car

A van driver caught drinking a bottle of champagne at the wheel has been jailed for eight months.

27-year-old Mason Cowgill was filmed opening and swigging Bollinger, rolling a cigarette and calling friends on his phone in North Yorkshire last June. Cowgill, who had been driving along the A65 near Ingleton for miles, crashed into the back of a car in stationary traffic while his hands were off the wheel.

He left the scene before police arrived and was again recorded making calls as he drove away, the car - which contained three children - was written off. He was already on a suspended jail sentence at the time and was caught when his boss saw the in-cab recordings. He was sacked resultingly, and the matter was brought to the attention of police who charged him with dangerous driving.

At York Crown Court, Prosecutor Kelly Sherif said that less than three weeks before the crash Cowgill carried out an alcohol theft spree in Harrogate, stealing wine from the White Hart Hotel, and Chablis and Prosecco from Tesco. Cowgill, from Gargrave, near Skipton had a previous conviction for drink-driving when he had been substantially over the limit and was still under a suspended sentence for arson and malicious communication before the motoring offence.

 "Cowgill is lucky he did not kill someone. The manner in which he drove was a clear danger to other road users and I'm amazed he did not cause any more collisions" said Pc Babs Parsons, from the North Yorkshire force. "This was not a momentary lapse in concentration, this is a sustained period in which Cowgill paid very little or no attention to the road and was clearly not in control of the van he was driving."

Cowgill plead guilty and was jailed for eight months for the motoring offences, banned from driving for 32 months and ordered to take an extended retest. He was also jailed for a further eight months for burglary and theft offences.

The Johnson Partnership

Derby Crime Solicitors