Brenton James Howarth, 61, appears in District Court after pleading guilty to gruesome 2023 Sandy Creek crash

A drunk driver who caused a multi-vehicle crash in the Barossa left a motorcyclist’s foot “hanging off” in the ensuing chaos. Watch his arrest interview.

A motorcyclist’s foot was left “hanging” after he slammed into the back of a Mercedes Benz that had been struck head-on by a drunk and out-of-control driver, a court has heard.

Brenton James Howarth, 61, appeared in the District Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to driving unlicensed and causing serious harm to two people in January 2023, when he “slid off” Barossa Valley Way, in Sandy Creek, while three times over the limit.

During sentencing submissions, the court heard Howarth, of Lyndoch, was seen “swerving all over the road” minutes before the crash, and observed by witnesses – who heard the collision from neighbouring homes – later “doing a runner”.

Brenton James Howarth is arrested by police over a multi-vehicle, head-on crash with a Mercedes and motorcycle in 2023 on Barossa Valley Way, in Sandy Creek. Picture: SA Courts

He was seen attempting to climb over the barbed-wire fence of a nearby property, but was restrained by bystanders after his shirt got “hooked” on the wire – leaving him hanging from the fence, the court heard.

“The defendant was driving in a Toyota Hiluxe ute and was travelling towards Lyndoch,” a prosecutor said.

“A witness was travelling in the same direction … and saw the defendant’s vehicle in his rear-vision mirror. He said he could see the car ‘swerving all over the road, from left to right’. He ‘did not want to be anywhere near that car’, due to the way it was driving’.

Howarth (left) leaves the District Court on Wednesday. Picture: Charlie Dadds

“(The victim) said she saw the defendant’s vehicle coming in the opposite direction. She saw it come around the bend in the road sideways, and that it slid off the road into the dirt. She said the vehicle was then ‘fishtailing’ back on to the road ‘coming towards me’.”

Howarth previously entered guilty pleas to two counts of aggravated cause serious harm by dangerous driving, one count of leaving the scene of an accident and one count of duty to hold a licence.

Court photos of the aftermath of the crash on Barossa Valley Way, in Sandy Creek in 2023. Picture: District Court

Howarth was drunk and initially claimed he was walking home at the time of the crash. Picture: District Court

On Wednesday, it was submitted Howarth had told police – shortly after his arrest – he was just “walking home”, and initially denied any involvement in the crash.

Body-worn camera footage of Howarth’s arrest shows him telling police he’d never done anything wrong.

“I just been walking home ... and those men jumped me and knocked my teeth out,” he told police as he was arrested in a Barossa paddock.

“Was I driving when you found me? I’ve done nothing wrong my whole life.”

In a victim impact statement read to the court through the prosecution, the 53-year-old driver of the Mercedes said she remembered the incident “clear as day”.

“I can’t get this vision out of my head, and I don’t know if I ever will,” she wrote. “A ute going sideways, hitting the gravel dirt on the opposite side of the road to me with a huge plume of rocks and dust.”

Both victims were taken to hospital, with the motorcyclist suffering from a severe “90-degree” ankle fracture after it was wedged between the two vehicles. He spent three days in hospital.

Prosecution request Howarth’s bail be revoked immediately, but Judge Jane Schammer adjourned the matter for continuing submissions in September.

Originally published as Brenton James Howarth, 61, appears in District Court after pleading guilty to gruesome 2023 Sandy Creek crash