Speeding drink-driver struck teenage cyclist and left him at the side of the road in Comberton

A drink-driver almost killed a teenage cyclist after driving on the wrong side of the road just minutes after being refused service at a pub.

Ambrose Taylor, 20, of Swaynes Lane, Comberton, left The Hoops pub in Barton at about 9.10pm on October 6 last year and drove off in a silver Ford Fiesta.

About five minutes later, driving at 63mph in a 30mph speed limit on the wrong side of the road, Taylor struck the 13-year-old boy who was riding along Barton Road, Comberton, knocking him into the verge.

Taylor drove off, which left the boy with an open fracture to his right elbow.

A pedestrian witnessed Taylor driving at speed and heard a loud bang before coming across the injured boy and noticing a wing mirror from the Fiesta next to him.

Taylor then almost ploughed into a driver as he drove towards her at speed but just pulled back into the correct lane in time. He stopped at The Three Horseshoes pub, in Comberton, where the landlord noticed he was slurring his words and staggering about. Taylor was arrested for driving whilst unfit through drink and drugs and refused to provide a sample of breath at Huntingdon Police Station.

On Wednesday, at Cambridge Crown Court, Taylor, was jailed for two years and six months having admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving, failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis, driving with no insurance, two counts of failing to stop after a collision and driving without due care and attention. He was disqualified from driving for four years and four months.

Further investigations demonstrated that another collision, at about 7pm that evening, happened in Swaynes Lane, Comberton, where Taylor had damaged a parked Kia.

Det Con Fay Millen, said: “Why Taylor thought it was a good idea to get behind the wheel of a car while drunk is beyond me.

“The sentence today reflects the severity of the crime, which could have easily been causing death by dangerous driving.”