Ipswich: ‘Menace’ Darrell Lambert given four months for pub crash

Driving menace Darrell Lambert has been jailed yet again after the car he was driving while disqualified careered into a north Essex pub causing extensive damage to the listed building.

The 27-year-old, of Hawke Road, Ipswich, was convicted of driving while disqualified for at least the ninth time and drink-driving for at least the fourth time, after fleeing and leaving his seriously injured passenger in the BMW.

Last month he was sentenced to a total of 25 weeks’ imprisonment by Ipswich magistrates for a string of motoring offences including another drink-driving charge, theft, and breaching a suspended sentence.

These occurred between July and December - after Lambert smashed into the Kings Arms pub in Lawford, near Manningtree on June 12.

Today before Colchester magistrates jailed Lambert for a further four months his solicitor Sue Threadkell admitted: “May I accept from the outset his record is more than unenviable. On paper Mr Lambert is a deeply unattractive individual and I concede that point.”

Prosecutor Simon Bravery had previously told the court Lambert had lost control of the BMW on the A137. This led him to plough into a garden fence, the pub, and a telegraph pole, at around 5am.

His passenger Daniel Smith, the owner of the car, sustained broken bones in the crash and was left in the vehicle as Lambert made off.

Lambert was subsequently arrested at Manningtree railway station but needed treatment for injuries.

Lambert had pleaded not guilty to six offences at a hearing in December because he wanted to spend Christmas with his family, including his grandmother who was said to be in a very poorly condition.

Today Lambert admitted driving while disqualified, drink-driving, failing to stop or report an accident, driving with no insurance and careless driving.

A blood sample showed the level of alcohol in Lambert’s blood at the time was 171 milligrammes in 100 millilitres. The legal limit is 80mgs.

After Lambert’s sentencing Yvonne Phillips, who owns the King’s Arms with her husband, said: “It was just chaos. When we went out there was a hole in the wall, and the toilet was smashed and water was pouring through.

“Since then my husband has been in hospital as he’s had a heart attack. I am not saying this caused it, but it has exacerbated it.”

The couple have been left with a bill running into tens of thousands of pounds, the exact cost of which is still being assessed by the insurers.

Essex Police Insp Scott Egerton, added: “Darrell Lambert is a menace to the public. He had already been banned from driving and yet he drove again and while drunk on this occasion.”