Man who got behind the wheel after drinking over eleven cocktails and fifteen shots is jailed

A man, whose dangerous drink driving resulted in a young woman losing her leg has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Michael Marsden, 23 of Laburnham Road, Aldershot appeared at Guildford Crown Court Friday (10 June) where he was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple offences.  

Officers were called to the A31 Farnham Bypass in the early hours of Saturday, 5 June 2021 following reports of a collision involving a car and a pedestrian, where the car had failed to stop. The 22-year-old female victim had been walking home when she was hit by a car with such impact that she lost her leg.

Off-duty Superintendent Adam Smith was driving home from work when he came across the scene. He administered life-saving medical attention to the victim along with an off-duty paramedic Jen, using his belt as a tourniquet to prevent further blood loss.

Extensive enquiries commenced and overnight, officers identified a Blue BMW which they believed to be involved in the collision. This belonged to Marsden and officer’s recovered this vehicle from an address in Farnham where they found the car to have a cracked front bumper and was missing a wing mirror. When questioned by police, Marsden claimed that he believed he had hit an animal and blamed the foggy weather conditions.

He was arrested and toxicology revealed that he was over the drink driving limit. Marsden had been at a ‘bottomless brunch’ event in Guildford, where he drank around eleven cocktails before getting in his car to drive to more pubs in Aldershot where he consumed a further fifteen shots and two pints. Phone work then showed that the day after the collision, he had been looking at Surrey Police’s appeals for witnesses and had messaged friends and family about the collision.

He was charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving, driving whilst alcohol level over the limit, failure to stop and failure to report.

Michael Marsden appeared at court on Friday (10 June) where he was sentenced to three years in prison and was disqualified from driving for 54 months.

Investigating Officer, Detective Constable Rick Edwards said “Throughout this investigation, Marsden has shown no remorse for what he has done and has even been witnessed mocking the collision amongst his friends.

“The victim has shown immense bravery this past year and I hope that this result gives her some closure and allows her to move forward with her life. It was extremely lucky that Superintendent Adam Smith was driving past at that moment and he, along with the paramedics involved saved the young victims life.”

Following the conclusion of court proceedings Friday, the victim thanked Surrey Police for the support throughout this investigation.