Moment drink-driver ploughs into family's living room, causing £30k damage, caught on camera

The moment a suspected drink-driver ploughed into a family's living room, causing nearly £30,000 of damage, has been caught on camera.

Driver Michael Wilson then fled the scene, before calling police the next day to claim his car had been stolen - but was caught out when his DNA was found on the inflated airbag.

Officers and firefighters had already been called to the house in Wisbech in Cambridgeshire in the early hours of 21 August 2021 to find Wilson's silver Audi A3 embedded in the living room with the driver's airbag inflated.At about 10.30am that day, the 34-year-old called police to say he had been burgled.

He claimed he had woken up after a night out drinking to find the front door of his house in Acacia Avenue, Wisbech, open.

He said the Audi had been stolen, together with a watch, earring and £200 in cash.

Inquiries were made to locate the allegedly stolen car, and the link to the crash in Mount Pleasant Road was discovered.

The airbag was analysed by forensic officers and Wilson’s DNA found on it.

Wilson initially denied making a false statement to cover the fact he was drunk, had crashed his car and run off, but in February pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, intending to pervert the course of justice and criminal damage at Cambridge Crown Court.

Det Con Pete Wise, of Cambridgeshire Police, described the crash as "alarming and destructive" as Wilson drove his car "through the wall into the living room at speed".

"This was an incredibly scary incident for the occupants of the house," he said.

“It is lucky the two people in the house at the time were upstairs in bed - otherwise the consequences could have been much more serious."

Wilson appeared at Huntingdon Law Courts on Friday, where he was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to complete 160 hours of unpaid work and pay £12,000 in compensation to the victims, at a cost of £500 per month.

The crash caused more than £28,000 worth of damage to the house itself and £1,000 of damage to items in the living room.

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