Lee Jenkins: Trangie drink driver crashed, failed to stop for cops
A man from western NSW had to be put in a coma, given a blood transfusion and flown to a Sydney hospital after he fled police after a four-hour drinking session.
Dubbo News
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A 31-year-old man is lucky to be alive after his four-hour drinking session ended with a high speed police pursuit, car crash and helicopter flight to a Sydney hospital for lifesaving treatment.
While heavily intoxicated, Lee Charles Jenkins crashed a Holden Commodore in a paddock near the Mitchell Highway at Narromine, about 35 kilometres west of Dubbo on November 30 last year.
In court documents police said the Trangie man had been drinking at the Narromine Hotel and a friend’s house in the hours leading up to the crash.
After he stumbled out of his friend’s house, he got in the car and police said officers noticed him indicating early at an intersection and driving over a cement median strip on Manildra Street.
When police turned their warning lights on and tried to stop Jenkins he accelerated harshly and reached 150km/h in a 110km/h zone on the Mitchell Highway.
Police said they lost sight of Jenkins and the vehicle, however court documents stated he reached up to 213km/h, lost control of the car and ended up on the wrong side of the road.
The car ended up on its side in a vacant paddock after it collided with a tree and fences.
Police said their warning lights were deactivated after they lost sight of Jenkins and he was found after dust was noticed in the paddock.
Police found Jenkins unconscious on the ground next to the car.
Police rendered first aid and Jenkins was flown by helicopter to Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital.
While on the way to the hospital he had to be given a blood transfusion due to internal bleeding and severe injuries he was suffering.
A test of his blood alcohol limit produced a reading of 0.274 — more than five times the legal limit.
In February, after was discharged from hospital, Jenkins handed himself in to police in February.
Police said Jenkins “had no recollection of the police pursuit or circumstances which resulted in him crashing the vehicle”.
In Dubbo Local Court Jenkins pleaded guilty to causing a police pursuit, high-range drink driving and dangerous driving.
Defence lawyer Simon Colyer told the court there was no doubt Jenkins’s conduct would see him sentenced to a term of imprisonment.
Magistrate Gary Wilson requested a sentencing assessment report and adjourned the case to June 16.
On June 16 Magistrate Theresa Hamilton convicted Jenkins and sentenced him to a 10-month term of imprisonment with a three-month non parole period.
Jenkins will be eligible for release in September.
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