Cambridge Man Sentenced for Drink Driving and Vehicle Theft

A drink driver took his father’s car without permission and then crashed it into a kerb, narrowly missing pedestrians. Haygen Norman, 20, was more than three times the legal limit when he took the Volkswagen Touran from his family home in Harvey Goodwin Avenue, Cambridge, at about 9.30pm on Thursday 16 April.

His father called police and officers found him in Kings Hedges Road, Cambridge, where he had crashed into a kerb, narrowly avoiding pedestrians. The force of the collision had caused a tyre to come off one of the car’s front wheels.

Norman was arrested and failed a roadside breath test with a reading of more than three times the legal limit. He pleaded guilty to drink driving, driving whilst disqualified, without insurance and aggravated vehicle taking at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on Monday (29 June) and was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, and disqualified from driving for 36 months.

PC Doug McColm, who investigated, said: “Norman not only took his father’s car without permission, but drove it while heavily under the influence of alcohol and it was only luck that he did not seriously injure a pedestrian or worse.” Cambridgeshire police are urging people to think before they get behind the wheel this summer. The force operates a dedicated, confidential hotline – 0800 032 0845 – which is available 24/7 and allows the reporting of those believed to be driving under the influence.

Information about drink driving, the law and the penalties, can be found on the force’s dedicated road safety information webpages. Share