A 38-year-old lorry driver has been sentenced to 10 months in prison and disqualified from driving for three years and five months, after pleading guilty to dangerous driving and drink-driving.
Dimitar Kamov, of no fixed abode, was charged with driving with excess alcohol after blowing 107mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath – the legal limit is 35mg.
Police were contacted by several members of the public at around 5.50pm on Sunday 22 November 2015, reporting that a lorry with a 20ft trailer was driving erratically on the A14 westbound. Officers attended and managed to safely get the lorry to stop in a layby at around 6.05pm.
Kamov pleaded guilty at Ipswich Magistrates Court and subsequently today appeared at Ipswich Crown Court for sentencing.
PC Matthew Dale from Suffolk and Norfolk Roads Policing and Firearms Unit, who attended the event, said: “This was a very serious incident that could have easily led to a fatal collision.
“His manner of driving was appalling, as we got closer I could see large tailbacks of vehicles, all travelling around 40mph. I could see why so many members of the public were reluctant to pass. The HGV slowed suddenly to around 20mph…almost coming to a stop on the live carriageway in lane one and then pulled into a layby.
“A taxi driver, who witnessed the incident, stated ‘as my front passenger wheel became level with the back of his trailer, again it verged from his lane towards me. Quite frankly, I thought I was going to die. I have been driving for about 20 years and this is the worst driving I have seen. It was so dangerous. I had the realisation that I could have been killed on the road by that driver.
“This sentence reinforces that Suffolk Police does not tolerate drink or dangerous driving, which also puts other road users at risk, and those who do will be dealt with by the courts appropriately.”
