Bursledon pony and trap fatal crash: Driver jailed
A drunk driver who killed a pony and trap rider in a high-speed crash has been jailed.
Oliver Wareham, 29, drove into the back of 33-year-old William Gaskin's carriage in Portsmouth Road, Old Netley, Hampshire, on 26 March 2017.
Two weeks before the fatal accident, Wareham had been fined by magistrates for another crash on the same road, Southampton Crown Court was told.
Wareham, from Southampton, was jailed for four years and four months.
The welder, of Rownhams Road, was also disqualified from driving for five years and two months.
The pair, who knew each other, had been drinking in the same pub on the evening of the "catastrophic crash", the court heard.
Wareham had consumed six-and-a-half pints of lager and three measures of spirits in the space of three hours.
He was travelling at about 69mph (111km/h) on the 40mph limit road when he braked sharply behind the pony and trap, which did not have lights or reflectors.
Mr Gaskin and his pony died at the scene.
Wareham then left the area and called his brother to pick him up.
Defence barrister Robert Gray said his client called 999 at 09:30 the following morning to confess and express remorse.
The court heard Wareham had been involved in another crash on the same road in November 2016, which led to a fine for careless driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
Judge Christopher Parker QC told Wareham: "You chose not to stop, you chose to make off, and the consequence was no first aid was immediately rendered to Mr Gaskin, and a further consequence was that you knew you would not be breathalysed at the scene."
Wareham had pleaded guilty to one count of causing death by careless driving under the influence of alcohol at an earlier hearing.