Sutton Benger man appears in court following incident in Chippenham

A man from Sutton Benger has pleaded guilty to multiple offences following an incident in Chippenham.

Michael Cawley, 45, of High Street, appeared at Swindon Magistrates court today charged with the following offences:

• Dangerous driving

• Drink driving

• Driving whilst disqualified

• Using a vehicle without insurance

Shortly after 9pm on Friday (27/5), officers were on routine patrols in the Chippenham area when they spotted a Ford Mondeo being driven with a light defect.

The officers followed the vehicle, which was seen to accelerate at speed into Hill Rise. The Mondeo then crashed into a telegraph pole, narrowly missing another vehicle coming in the opposite direction. It then mounted the curb and accelerated at speed.

Officers pursued the vehicle and were able to detain Cawley. He provided a roadside breath sample which showed he was over the legal limit. Enquiries also showed he was disqualified from driving. He was arrested and later charged.

He pleaded guilty to all offences today and will be sentenced on July 4. He has been given a further interim disqualification.

PC Storm Brand said: “Thankfully nobody was hurt during this incident and we were able to safely detain Cawley with minimal impact to the wider public. Cawley showed absolutely no regard for the wider community whilst travelling at speed in a built up area with excess alcohol in his system. We simply cannot have these types of individuals on the public roads and we will robustly deal with anyone that comes to our notice.

"SPC Pete Woolley, who was patrolling alongside myself at the time, is a special constable who gives up his own time as a volunteer and carries the same warranted powers as a regular police officer. This was a positive arrest from him.” The vehicle was seized following the arrest.