A COMPANY director was high on cocaine and alcohol when he lost control of his super-powered Ferrari at 100mph and went straight across a roundabout.
Darren Turner’s Ferrari California then smashed into a lamppost and ended up on the wrong side of a dual carriageway at the Oversley Mill roundabout near Alcester.
And a judge at Warwick Crown Court told Turner, boss of Turner’s Pallets and Recycling, based in Tyseley, Birmingham, that ‘the potential for harm to other road-users was enormous.’
Turner, 46, of Redhill Road, Kings Norton, Birmingham, was jailed for 12 months and banned from driving for four-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to dangerous driving and driving with over the legal limits of alcohol and cocaine in his blood.
Prosecutor Ryan Hodgkins said in July last year Turner was driving his high-powered car along the A46 dual carriageway.
He was doing in excess of 100mph in the Ferrari, which has a top speed of 194, when he lost control and hit the central barrier, causing the front of the car to be lifted of the ground.
Another driver had to take evasive action as it bounced back onto the carriageway and Turner struggled to control the car as he continued towards the Oversley Mill roundabout.
He reached the roundabout, and went straight across the middle of it and hit a lamppost and spun out of control.
The wrecked £100,000 Ferrari narrowly missed an oncoming car as it ended up on the wrong side of the dual carriageway section of the A435 at the approach to the island.
Turner was injured in the crash and was given first aid at the scene before being taken to Worcester hospital.
He provided a blood sample which showed he had getting on for double the legal limit of alcohol, and a reading for benzoylecgonine, an indicator of having taken cocaine, more than nine times the legal limit.
The court heard that among Turner’s previous convictions for driving offences were two for driving with excess alcohol, one for failing to provide a specimen and one for dangerous driving.
Patrick Kelly, defending, said: “This was a night of stupidity. He apologises unreservedly for what he’s done. He should have known better.”
Mr Kelly said that for 20 years Turner had struggled with alcohol, and six years ago he took over the Turner’s Pallets business following the death of his father.
“He did not receive any counselling for that, and alcohol was not doing it for him, and he turned to drugs. His wife had put up with the drink, but the drugs destroyed the marriage.
“The buying of the car itself was an act of stupidity. He bought it while in drink, and was paying £1600 a month – and because he was drunk, his insurance did not pay out.”
But jailing Turner, Judge Andrew Lockhart QC told him: “People think that offences like this don’t have victims, but they do. The victim is the public’s safety.”
