DRINK drivers have been hauled before the courts following a police crackdown.

Dorset Police, who ran a summer campaign to target drink and drug drivers, say they will continue to target those who put themselves and others at risk.

The force warns: “Don’t risk it, it’s never worth it.”

Officers say too many people, fail to consider the untold devastation that drink and drug driving can cause.

Nationally, on average 3,000 people are killed or seriously injured each year in drink drive collisions.

A total of 48 people were charged following the summer campaign in Dorset which ran throughout June.

Local drivers who were convicted are highlighted here.

Lorne Chisholm of Portland was arrested as part of a Christmas campaign but the court case was only concluded this month.

Teen flipped car and ran

A DRINK-driver who fled from an overturned car he crashed at high speed later became violent to police officers who had to use CS spray on him.

Lorne Chisholm, who only had a provisional driving licence, ran from the scene after losing control of his car and causing it to flip over and land in a field off Portland Bill Road.

Chisholm, aged 19, of Church Lane, Portland, was among those charged in Dorset Police's Christmas campaign targeting drink drivers.

However the case has only just concluded following a trial at Weymouth Magistrates Court.

Chisholm first appeared in court in January, when he pleaded guilty to driving without a licence, but not guilty to drink-driving and using violent behaviour towards police officers following his arrest.

The court was told during his trial held this month that on the morning of December 28, police received reports of a road traffic collision on Portland Bill Road and that a man had been seen running away from the scene.

Officers went to Chisholm’s address, where he lived with his grandmother, and found him holding a glass half-filled with rum. He was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving and taken to Weymouth Police Station.

When breathalysed he was found to have 67 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath – the legal limit is 35 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath.

The court heard on arrival at the police station, Chisholm became abusive towards officers and threatened to “floor [them] with one punch.”

Later, officers monitoring Chisholm in his cell sounded an alarm after he attempted to harm himself. Officers entered the cell and, after negotiating with him, used CS spray after he threatened to "use his head as a weapon".

Simon Lacey, defending, told the court that Chisholm, who was a provisional licence holder, had “panicked” after the crash and checked nobody was hurt before he ran home.

It was after he returned home, Mr Lacey argued, that Chisholm drank two and a half glasses of rum which explained his alcohol reading.

Mr Lacey argued that at the police station, while Chisholm may have "said a few unpleasant things, whatever he did did not amount to violent behaviour."

Chisholm told the court he drank about a glass and a half of rum the evening before the crash.

He added that on the morning of the crash he received an upsetting message from a former partner, with whom he had lost a child, and this left him with suicidal thoughts.

He decided to go for a drive to "clear his mind" and admitted he liked driving fast.

“I thought the roads would be empty at that time,” he said.

He admitted he was driving at about 90-100mph when he hit a ridge and the car flipped on to its roof.

District judge Stephen Nichols said he did not accept Chisholm’s explanation for how he came to be over the legal drink drive limit and found him guilty of drink-driving.

He said that some of the details Chisholm provided about what happened did not coincide with evidence given by a road traffic collision analyst and that he "either drank more or for a longer period of time than he had disclosed."

The judge also said Chisholm was "clearly very abusive” towards officers at the police station and that the abuse continued for “a considerable time.”

He said that the officers who entered the police cell to stop Chisholm from causing harm to himself “had reason to behave the way they did in respect to his behaviour” and that there actions were justified. He found Chisholm guilty of violence against police officers.

Judge Nichols disqualified Chisholm from driving for 16 months.

He fined him £150 for drink driving, £100 for violence towards police officers and ordered him to pay £350 prosecution costs.

Young driver 'living in car' escapes ban

A MAN who assaulted shop workers then tried to drive his car while drunk has been fined – but has escaped a driving ban.

Spencer Frampton, who magistrates heard was living in his car and would end up homeless if he lost his licence, admitted four offences, including drink-driving after he attempted to start his car whilst intoxicated after an assault on two shop workers in Weymouth.

Weymouth Magistrates Court heard that on the morning of June 24, Frampton, aged 20, visited Londis supermarket on Abbotsbury Road. He picked up a roll and put money on the counter when he couldn’t find a member of staff.

However, he was challenged by shop worker Sharon Benfield outside the shop, who believed he hadn’t paid for the roll.

Frampton was said to be ‘verbally abusive’ before throwing the roll at her and swearing.

Tony Hiscutt, another staff member who had witnessed the incident, confronted Frampton. The court heard that Frampton then grabbed Mr Hiscutt by the neck before going outside and damaging a Lottery sign by kicking it.

Staff called police, who tracked Frampton to an address in nearby Kitchener Road. He had got into his car and put the key in the ignition, at which point he saw police officers and got out and went in a property.

The court heard that when officers found him he was reportedly in a ‘distressed state’ with dilated pupils, and ‘covered in engine oil’.

Officers realised Frampton had been drinking and breathalysed him.

He was found to have 51mcg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 35mcg per 100ml.

Mitigating, Lee Christmas, said: “It started over a misunderstanding.”

He added: “His finances are limited.

“He is homeless and lives in his car. If he is disqualified from driving he suffers the loss of his only place to live.”

Frampton pleaded guilty to assaulting Sharon Benfield, assaulting Tony Hiscutt, damaging a Lottery sign, and being in charge of a motor vehicle whilst over the drink-drive limit.

He received 10 penalty points on his driving licence, and was ordered to pay fines totalling £400 and compensation totalling £130.

Accused intoxicated in dock

A DRINK-driver who appeared in the dock intoxicated was handed a two-year conditional discharge after being found behind the wheel four-times over the legal limit.

Dean Beddow, aged 46, of Spiller Road, Chickerell, pleaded guilty at Weymouth Magistrates Court to failing to provide a specimen of breath when stopped by police officers in Peninsula Way, Poundbury.

Elizabeth Valera, prosecuting, told the court that just before 11am on June 10, officers saw Beddow get into his car and pulled up behind him at which point he started to reverse.

When officers pulled Beddow over, a breathalyser test revealed 141mcg of alcohol in 100ml of his breath. The legal limit is 35mcg. He was then taken to the police station but refused to provide a second breath specimen telling officers he had read on the internet that it was “standard procedure” to only give one.

Mitigating, Lee Christmas, said: “Mr Beddow had suffered a (mental) breakdown that day and after drinking in Poundbury had got into his vehicle to sleep. When the police arrive, he reverses as he thinks they want to get past.”

Before sentencing, the court’s probation officer told magistrates Beddow has been “difficult to interview” before the hearing and said it was obvious he had been drinking. Beddow was also disqualified for two years and ordered to pay costs of £50 and a victim surcharge of £20.

4-year ban for driver

A MOTORIST who was caught with nearly three times the drink-drive limit in his system has been handed a four-year driving ban.

Martin Oliver, aged 54, of Victoria Road, Portland, was stopped by police in Portland Road, Weymouth on the afternoon of June 28 because of a problem with his tyre, Weymouth Magistrates Court heard.

Officers who pulled him over realised he was intoxicated.

Oliver was found to have 92mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath, almost three times the 35mg per 100ml legal drink-drive limit.

Oliver pleaded guilty to driving after consuming alcohol over the legal limit.

In mitigation, magistrates heard Oliver ‘clearly regrets his actions’ and that they will have ‘consequences for his family’.

They also heard he is motivated to battle his problems with alcohol.

Oliver was previously convicted for drink-driving in 2014 where he undertook a rehabilitation programme.

Due to the fact that he had been caught carrying out the same offence again, it was initially not felt that he should undertake the programme again.

But when magistrates gave Oliver a four-year driving ban, they gave him the option of undertaking the rehabilitation programme.

He was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of community service and pay an £85 fine plus an £85 victim surcharge.