Watch: Drunk white van man overtakes police on wrong side of roundabout
Police were left stunned at the poor driving of Wesley Gilchrist who was twice the legal alcohol limit
by Ben HurstA white van man fell foul of the law after overtaking an unmarked police car on the wrong side of the road while drunk.
Police officers were stunned at the poor driving of Wesley Gilchrist, aged 41, of Braemar Rise, Salisbury.
A video of the incident can be seen at the top of the article.
Gilchrist appeared at Salisbury Magistrates Court to be sentenced after pleading guilty to one charge of driving while over the legal alcohol limit.
He was fined £750 and disqualified from driving for 15 months.
Ths incident happened in incident in Trowbridge at around 4.55pm on Sunday January 19 this year, when PC Andy Lee was on patrol in the town.
He was driving an unmarked police car on The Mead and entered the mini roundabout with Canal Road, when he was overtaken by a white Ford Transit van.
Police said that in doing this, the van was on the wrong side of the roundabout and exited the roundabout on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the “keep left” bollards.
PC Lee followed the van, which had driven off at speed and overtaken another vehicle.
Using his sirens and blue lights, he ordered the van to pull over on Wyke Road, where he spoke to the driver, Gilchrist and breathalysed him.
The reading showed he was more than twice the legal drink drive limit and he was arrested.
PC Lee said: “When the van overtook me I was initially stunned by the poor standard of driving, and stopped for a second before following the vehicle.
“I have no doubt that Gilchrist’s actions could have very easily led to a crash or someone being seriously injured or worse.”