Lorry driver who drove wrong way on A548 in Deeside is jailed

An HGV lorry driver who was caught driving the wrong way along a dual carriageway in Flintshire after drinking whisky has been jailed.

Nicolae Gorea, 40, from Moldova, was more than twice the drink drive limit when he drove on the A548 in the Deeside Industrial Park on Good Friday.

A fellow trucker tried to stop him by driving to a roundabout - but he drove off, Flintshire magistrates heard.

Gorea admitted dangerous driving, drink driving and fraud.

District Judge Gwyn Jones jailed Gorea for 42 weeks and banned him from driving for two years.

The court heard he was spotted driving the wrong way along the busy road at about 22:35 BST by another lorry driver, Brian O'Connor, who tried to flag him down before driving to a roundabout to try and stop him.

But, unable to understand him, the defendant drove on, the court heard.

'Confused and drunk'

Mr O'Connor called the police before driving to another roundabout and eventually making Gorea stop and get out of his vehicle.

When police arrived they noticed there was damage to the front of his lorry, indicating it had been in contact with street furniture.

Checks also showed that Gorea was wanted by The Met police following a fraudulent driving licence application when a foreign Romanian driving licence had been used.

Interviewed, he said he had parked up for the night at Deeside Industrial Park on 14 April, drank between 200 and 300 millilitres of whisky and then decided to move the vehicle.

He admitted he had driven the wrong way and said he "was tired, confused and drunk."

'Busy weekend'

The defendant also received a notice to be deported.

"You were driving a Romanian registered heavy goods vehicle with a 40 foot trailer on one of the arterial roots into north Wales on a busy Easter weekend," the judge said.

"You were significantly under the influence of alcohol and the manner of your driving clearly showed that."

He also praised Mr O'Connor for trying to stop the defendant and said his actions may well have helped others not to be hurt.