Drink driver jailed after New Year’s Eve stinger pursuit

A man who took a car without permission and led police on a New Year’s Eve pursuit that ended with officers deploying a stinger device has been jailed.

Joshua Gilmore helped himself to a Honda Jazz belonging to Benjy French from Snowdon Street in Porthmadog on 31 December, despite having no permission to drive the vehicle.

North Wales Police received reports at 4.30pm that the driver appeared intoxicated. When officers finally tracked down and stopped the Honda two hours later, they discovered Gilmore was already banned from the roads – he’d been disqualified after failing to complete an extended retest following a 2018 dangerous driving conviction.

A roadside breath test revealed shocking results: Gilmore had 105 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – three times the legal limit of 35. Even after sobering up slightly at the police station by 8.55pm, his reading still registered 56 micrograms.

The pursuit caused damage to Mr French’s car when police were forced to use a stinger to disable the vehicle’s tyres and bring the incident to a safe conclusion.

Appearing at Caernarfon Crown Court, Gilmore admitted drink driving and several other motoring offences. His defence barrister Sarah Yates explained her client had been drinking because he owed a debt and had been living a “chaotic” lifestyle.

Her Honour Judge Nicola Jones wasn’t swayed by the explanation. She activated ten months from a previous 21-month suspended sentence Gilmore had received for an earlier crime. The judge told him he needed to “press the reset button on his life.”

On top of the reactivated sentence, Gilmore received 14 days consecutive for taking the vehicle without consent, and ten days concurrent for the drink driving offence. He’s been banned from driving for a further 18 months. There was no separate penalty imposed for driving without insurance.