A 19-YEAR-OLD has appeared in court over drink driving after being involved in a four vehicle crash in Downton. 

Joshua Archer, of West Mills Road in Fordingbridge, pleaded guilty to drink driving as well as offences of an affray, being drunk and disorderly, and assaulting an emergency worker, when he appeared at Salisbury Magistrates Court on Friday, August 28.

The court heard Archer was arrested for being drunk and disorderly on July 2 of this year and had made abusive 999 calls, swearing at the call handlers, and was also shouting threats in the street that he ‘should be taken away and someone would get hurt’.

Prosecutor Ryan Seneviratne said officers found the defendant on The Borough in Downton and that he was “aggressive in his stature and tone” and also smelled of alcohol.

While in custody Archer punched an escort officer in the chest who was taking off the defendant’s handcuffs. The officer was not injured as the punch was to his body armour.

When interviewed by police Archer said he could not remember much about it and apologised for his behaviour and was embarrassed about it.

The court heard Archer had split up with his girlfriend and had been drinking beer before going out with a friend where they had driven to meet another friend and had more beer.

On the afternoon of July 19, Archer was arrested after the Vauxhall vehicle he was driving was involved in a four vehicle crash on The Borough in Downton.

Mr Seneviratne said the Vauxhall had collided with a Ford Focus and that a Skoda Octavia and a Mazda CX3 were also damaged. The collision also involved two houses.

Mr Seneviratne said it had collided with a Ford Focus, Scoda Octavia and a Mazda CX3 as well as two houses.

He was photographed fleeing the scene but stopped further up the road and was found sat on a bench. He was “uncooperative” with officers and initially refused to give a sample of breath. The proportion of alcohol in his breath was 58 microgrammes in 100 millilitres of breath.

Defending Archer, Trevor Line, said he was “very remorseful” over his actions and in relation to the drunk and disorderly incident his long-term relationship had ended with his girlfriend and he had started to abuse alcohol. Mr Line told the court Archer was no longer drinking.

The court heard he was also of previous good character.

Archer was jointly charged with an affray with a 15-year-old girl and 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons. The incident happened on the evening of February 8, 2019 on the ground floor of Central Car Park in the Maltings, Salisbury.

The 15-year-old and 17-year-old, who pleaded guilty to affray, were given referral orders for three months and ordered to pay compensation to the victim of £100 plus £85 in court costs and a £20 victim surcharge.

Archer will be sentenced for the offences on September 15 and has been released on unconditional bail until the hearing. The case has been adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared by the probation service.

The chairman of the bench Sarah Neish said: “You have got quite a list of offences you have pleaded guilty to. It seems very clear to us there are a few underlining issues. We need to find out more about you, a pre-sentence report is needed before we sentence you. It will gives us a much fuller picture of you and your life and what went on behind these offences.”

The magistrates imposed a interim driving disqualification which will be in place until the hearing in September. Ms Neish warned the defendant that if he continued driving on any road from today (Friday, August 28) he would be “committing a serious offence and would be sent to custody and disqualified again”.

She added: “You can’t even drive in a car park or on a private road. Do not sit in the drivers seat of any vehicle.”