This is the moment other motorists had to intervene to stop a drink driver who was slumped over the steering wheel and veering across one of the busiest motorways in the country.
Amos Chirimuta, from Maidstone, was almost four times the legal limit when he was spotted going extremely slowly on the M25 at Leatherhead, Surrey, during the morning rush-hour.
The 42-year-old was so inebriated that when police arrived he had to be helped out of his car and was unable to complete a breath test.
At one point he had stuck his fingers up at motorists who had put their hazard lights on to warn others to slow down to avoid a collision.
Other drivers eventually managed to guide him to the hard shoulder and get him to stop.
When police arrived, Chirimuta was found still slumped at the wheel of the Vauxhall Astra with a bottle of Jack Daniels on the passenger seat and vomit in the front of the car.
A court heard the incident happened on May 28, last year, between Junction 8 and 9.
Chirimuta, of Wallis Avenue, was later charged with drink-driving and admitted the offence in September when a pre-sentencing report was ordered.
He returned to Maidstone Magistrates’ Court on January 23 to hear his fate.
District Judge Julia Moffatt was told Chirimuta was so drunk when police arrived he was unable to complete a breath test and had to have his blood taken back at the station instead.
When that was tested, Chirimuta was found to have 319 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood, the legal limit is 80, which made him almost four times the legal limit.
Lucie Fish, prosecuting, said: “Police received reports a motorist was slumped over the wheel of his car on the M25 at Leatherhead and that the car was being driven slowly on the carriageway and weaving from lane to lane.
“Other vehicles had to slow behind him and this was at 7.30am on a very busy M25 and other drivers were reporting the driver was slumped over the steering wheel in his seat and seemed intoxicated.”
Ms Fish then told the court other motorists in larger vehicles had managed, with their hazard lights on, to alert other drivers to the danger and to steer Chirimuta towards the hard shoulder until his vehicle came to an eventual stop.
She said when police arrived: “There was a bottle of Jack Daniels in the car and vomit on the seat. He had to be helped out of the vehicle [by police] and couldn’t communicate with officers and was also unable to complete a breath test because he was so drunk.
“One officer said he had never seen someone so drunk and one of the witnesses said he was “s***-faced and absolutely p***** and that he could smell alcohol in the car and on his breath.”
Judge Moffatt was then shown the dashcam footage from one of the vehicles which had worked with other motorists to stop Chirimuta.
Ms Fish added: “He was drifting across lanes and even stuck two fingers up at other drivers, he wasn’t having any of it and even connected with the concrete central reservation.
“It was high risk and it was only the presence of mind of other drivers that prevented anything happening.
“He has no previous convictions but an interim ban was put in place in September.”
Judge Moffatt then asked Chirimuta, who wasn’t legally represented in court, why he was drinking that day.
He said: “I was drinking before I got in the car, I got up at 4am. I am sorry for all the people on the roads I have never committed a crime in my life.”
Judge Moffatt then asked if he realised how serious the incident was and how much of a dangerous situation he had put other road users and himself in.
She added: “It was one of the busiest parts of the M25.”
The court heard Chirimuta had rowed with his parents that day before getting into his car. They had reprimanded him over his binge drinking and told him he would be dead if he carried on.
He added: “I was grieving at the time and used alcohol as I had lost my brother, he was eight years older and I was close to him. I didn’t know how to cope.”
Judge Moffatt heard Chirimuta was now attending AA meetings and despite a relapse in December, he had now quit drinking altogether.
Chirimuta added: “I am trying my best, I was a binge drinker and I am disappointed with myself, but I am not drinking now.”
Judge Moffat told Chirimuta she was close to sending him to prison.
She added: “I’ve not seen for the number of years I’ve been doing this such a high reading in such a dangerous location.”
She told him the custody threshold had been passed but she could suspend his sentence because of his early guilty plea and lack of previous convictions.
As a result, she jailed him for six weeks but suspended the term for 12 months. She also ordered him to complete an alcohol treatment requirement for nine months and banned him from driving for 32 months.
Chirimuta was ordered to pay £241 court costs and a victim surcharge. He will pay the court what he owes at a rate of £50 a month.
If he completes a drink-driving course, his ban will be reduced by a quarter.
#Maidstone #drink #driver #slumped #wheel #forced #stop #motorists #M25 #Leatherhead #Surrey
Leave a Reply