Wrong-way ramble of driver, 82

A DEAF 82-year-old man drove 17 miles down the wrong side of a dual carriageway at night before being stopped by police, only to drive off again while he was still being questioned, a court was told yesterday.

Other drivers dialled 999 after swerving to avoid the car being driven at 30mph by William Howarth on the A34 near Drayton in Oxfordshire on 31 January, Abingdon magistrates were told.

When a police Range Rover caught up with him, an officer signalled Howarth to stop and ordered him to stay in his car while he fetched traffic cones. But he drove off and carried on for a further 10 miles before being stopped at a road block.

Howarth, a chartered accountant, of Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, near Wallingford, Oxfordshire, was banned from driving for a year and fined pounds 175 after pleading guilty to dangerous driving. He had become lost as he took a short-cut home to avoid road works.