A FAMILY’S Lakes holiday was wrecked after a banned driver rammed their car and left their daughter badly shaken.
Kyle Campbell Reyes, 28, came to the attention of police who suspected he could potentially be over the drink-drive limit while in a Peugeot van.
This was spotted in Ambleside, at 9:25am on July 22, 2021, prompting a constable to turn his vehicle around, activating the lights and siren.
He caught up with the van as it pulled into a parking bay and, as the PC pulled alongside, a female colleague exited the vehicle and told Reyes to switch off the engine.
Prosecutor Huw Edwards told Carlisle Crown Court: “The defendant then looked directly at police and put his vehicle in reverse, hitting the door that the officer was standing at, and causing her to jump back into the police van.”
As Reyes drove off at speed along Borrans Road, a motorist travelling in front, with his family, saw the van “brake and wobble”. He slowed to let it overtake but, as another vehicle approached, Reyes struck the driver’s side door and wing mirror. The man’s wife and two young children, aged six and two, were also inside.
“He states that he and his family were on holiday for the first time since the pandemic began on the day of the incident,” said Mr Edwards. “His daughter was extremely shaken up as she was on the side of the car where the van rammed violently into and she had her window down at the time. Their family holiday had to be amended and some plans cancelled as they didn’t have a car.”
Days were also spent afterwards contacting insurers, police and car hire companies.
Meanwhile Reyes, of Whinfell Close, Kendal, was arrested and escorted from a bus after he had abandoned his van facing the wrong way on one-way Lake Road. He was found to be a banned driver, later admitting dangerous driving, failing to stop, driving while disqualified and without insurance.
Brendan Burke, defending, said Reyes had expressed genuine remorse to a probation officer. “The problem — obvious to all but perhaps more obvious to him now — is alcohol,” said Mr Burke. “The steps he has taken do acknowledge and address that.”
Reyes had given up work to focus on intensive alcohol rehabilitation which could last months, the court heard.
Recorder Philip Grundy suspended an eight-month jail term for two years, telling Reyes: “You are a young man. This is a crossroads moment for you.”
He must complete a rehabilitation requirement, 100 hours’ unpaid and a 60-day alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement, along with a three-year driving ban.
