Mornington Peninsula crash: James Harrington avoids jail after running from New Year's Day accident
A drunk dad who stacked his car on the Mornington Peninsula on New Year’s Day has escaped jail time, with the judge saying it was a ‘miracle’ no one was killed.
South East
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A boozed-up plumber and father-of-two who stacked his car on Mornington Peninsula Fwy after doing a runner from police on New Year’s Day has avoided jail.
James Harrington, 28, pleaded guilty in the Dromana Magistrates’ Court last Thursday to multiple charges including dangerous driving, failing to stop for police and refusing a breath test.
Harrington’s escapade started just before 5pm on January 1 when he was spotted by police speeding along Nepean Hwy near Mount Martha.
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Highway patrol members tried to stop him further down the road, but the brazen motorist drove on.
Police terminated the chase when Harrington accelerated onto the Dromana section of Mornington Peninsula Fwy.
Witnesses said he drove at “extremely high speeds” while he cut in and out of traffic “recklessly” overtaking other drivers.
He clipped the wire barrier of the freeway, lost control of his car and spun out in front of several vehicles, forcing motorists to brake or swerve out of the way.
Witnesses saw Harrington “fall out” of his vehicle as if he was affected by alcohol before he ran through a paddock and fell over a barbed wire fence.
The dog squad found him hiding in bushes almost 30 minutes later.
Harrington refused a breath test, but a blood test registered a reading of 0.234.
Magistrate Timothy Gattuso labelled his offences “appalling”.
“It’s a miracle that people aren’t dead,” he said.
“You have two young children, what would you want to happen if your children were in the other car and a driver swerved in front of them?”
Harrington was sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order, 200 hours of unpaid community service, and had his licence suspended for 30 months.