A drunk driver crashed into the Prime Minister’s Checkers estate

CPS

It was at this moment that a drunk driver crashed into Checkers, the Prime Minister’s country residence.

Matthew Wootten, 44, deliberately swerved towards Victory Gate at the entrance to the estate, nearly three times the drink-driving limit.

He couldn’t slow down as he drove through the 80-year-old oak gates to the 16th-century estate, which is given to prime ministers as their official country residence.

The crash, near Aylesbury, Bucks, caused more than £38,000 worth of damage and left Wootten seriously injured in the collision. Several cans of alcohol were found in his mutilated white Volkswagen Scirocco.

Dramatic videos and photos showed the accident and its aftermath.

Rishi Sunak was prime minister at the time of the incident on June 25, shortly before general election.

At Reading Crown Court, Wootten was jailed for 32 months after admitting dangerous driving, damage to property, recklessness as to whether life was in danger and driving while above the legal limit.

It was reported that he was almost three times over the legal drink driving limit, with a blood alcohol level of 221 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood. The legal limit is 80 mg.

Celia Mardon, senior prosecutor for CPS Thames and Chiltern, said: “The CCTV footage showed Wootten deliberately speeding towards the gates of the Checkers estate.

“The strength of this evidence, together with his significantly high blood alcohol content, gave him no choice but to plead guilty to the charges we brought against him.

“Not only did Wotten cause significant damage to the Victory Gate, but he could have put other people’s lives at risk with his reckless driving.”

He was also disqualified from driving for 40 months.

“Fire engine and police car without identification marks”

Ian Longthorne, a passer-by, was visiting a friend who was showing him the entrance to the estate when he came across the accident.

“We went for a walk and stopped at a nearby pub,” said the 54-year-old.

“We saw an ambulance, a fire engine and then a police car with no license plates, but didn’t think much of it.

“We continued our walk and my friend pointed me to a public footpath that goes through Checkers where you can look back to the entrance.

“We could see the car and I took a couple of pictures from there before I left and also a few from the front entrance.

“It’s always a shock to see an accident and this was quite unusual.”

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