Drunk Mercedes driver reached 110mph on A11 with four children in back
Oliver Reid, from Brandon, was banned from driving for 22 months - Credit: Norfolk and Suffolk Roads and Armed Policing Team
A drunk driver who reached speeds of 110mph on the A11 in a Mercedes with his four young children not properly secured in the back has been banned from the road.
Oliver Reid, 30, was behind the wheel of a grey Mercedes C220 early on Sunday, April 3, when police at the A11 Fiveways roundabout at Barton Mills spotted the car's fog lights were on, Suffolk Magistrates' Court heard.
The car was travelling from the direction of Newmarket towards Norwich, and was being driven above the speed limit, Morgan-Rose McGinn, prosecuting, told the court.
Officers began following the vehicle and over five miles, the speed of the Mercedes was calculated as between 90mph and 110mph, Miss McGinn said.
The car then turned off the A11, at Elveden, and stopped for police when indicated.
Officers found Reid behind the wheel, his partner in the front passenger, and four children, aged between two and seven years old, in the back of the car.
Two of the children were sharing an adult seatbelt, while the other two were each wearing an adult seatbelt. No booster seats or child seats were in use, the court heard.
Most Read
- 1 Striking new seafront café opens its doors to customers after two-year wait
- 2 Four-bedroom cottage on Dunwich clifftops for sale for £295k
- 3 Suffolk town named one of the best places to go on holiday in the UK
- 4 'It riles me to the core' - Anger as sofas dumped near Suffolk beauty spot
- 5 A14 lane closure in Bury St Edmunds after two-car crash
- 6 Dog walker in his 70s suffers cuts and bruises after attack in west Suffolk
- 7 'The children were buzzing' - Ed Sheeran sends video to Suffolk school
- 8 Thunderstorm warning issued for East of England
- 9 Travel: Stay on the UK's first floating glamping pod...in Beccles
- 10 Suffolk market town will lose its Post Office in June
Officers also smelt alcohol in the car and Reid failed a roadside breath test before blowing 68 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath in custody. The legal limit is 35mcg in 100ml of breath.
Reid made full admissions to drink driving and speeding at police interview, and added that the car seats for his children had been taken out to be cleaned and had not been put back.
Reid, of High Street, Brandon, appeared before magistrates in Ipswich on Monday and pleaded guilty to drink driving, speeding and using a car when the manner of passengers carried was likely to cause danger.
Oliver Reid appeared at Suffolk Magistrates' Court on Monday - Credit: Sarah Lucy brown
The conviction also put Reid in breach of a conditional discharge issued for a previous public order offence.
The court held that Reid previously held a clean driving licence.
Claire Lockwood, mitigating, said Reid had gone to his brother's house and had consumed "quite a few beers" as he had intended to stay the night.
However, the family had to leave suddenly following an argument, and that was why he was driving his partner and children home, Ms Lockwood said.
Reid said the children's car seats were used on the journey to his brother's house but had been taken out because they had got messy.
The seats were not put back for the return journey, Ms Lockwood told the court.
Magistrates banned Reid from driving for 22 months, and handed him a 12-month community order, with 120 hours of unpaid work.
He must also pay £105 in court costs and a victim surcharge of £95.
Reid was offered the drink drive rehabilitation course, which will reduce his ban by 22 weeks if completed.
