Man who fled crash admits careless driving

Steven Kimble, of Stradbroke Road, Ipswich, pleaded guilty at South East Suffolk Magistrates Court to careless driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.

Colette Griffiths, prosecuting, told the court the crash occurred at 10.15pm on July 17 at the junction of Spring Road and Cauldwell Hall Road.

A silver Mercedes was being driven by David Barnes along Spring Road towards the town centre.

The traffic lights were said to have been green and Mr Barnes proceeded to cross intersection with Cauldwell Hall Road. As he did so his Mercedes was hit in the left-hand side by a BMW driven by Kimble. The collision caused Mr Barnes’ car to spin round 180 degrees and crash into a lamppost, causing him to sustain minor injuries, the court was told.

The BMW mounted the pavement and struck a wall.

Magistrates heard a male and a female ran away down Spring Road.

A bar worker from the Old Times pub was said to have heard the “screeching of brakes” and an “almighty bang”.

She ran out of the pub and saw two males and two females in the BMW.

Kimble, 40, got out of the car and with help from a female tried to release a passenger from the back.

Kimble appeared unsteady on his feet and made off towards Woodbridge Road. The court was told he was unable to run in a straight line.

The bar worker shouted at Kimble and one of his passengers that there was no point running away as police had been called. The passenger returned to the scene of the crash.

Magistrates were told another witness heard a man who got out of the car shouting “run, run” to the passengers.

Kimble’s male passenger was detained and named Kimble, who was subsequently arrested.

Forensics on the driver’s airbag proved Kimble, a HGV dangerous goods driver, had been at the wheel.

The case was adjourned until Monday for a pre-sentence report.

Kimble was told by magistrates that he should not assume a custodial sentence had been ruled out.

He was released on bail until sentencing.